eChapters

Introduction

Milk is a natural food source of mammals. Animals produce milk to feed their young-ones until they are ready for solid feed. Cow milk contains protein, vitamins and minerals which are essential for the overall growth of the body. Cow milk contains a lot of nutrients and it has great role for overall health. Cow milk helps to boost the immune system of humans. Cow milk has a high content of calcium and minerals which plays a key role in maintaining bone density. Because of its high calcium content, cow’s milk is also considered great for teeth health. Cow milk has all essential amino acids which are required for growth and development of body. It is very beneficial for children as it helps to grow with physically and mentally. Cow milk help to reduce weight loss as it loaded with protein which is essential for weight loss. Calcium and vitamin D of milk increases the metabolic rate of the body. A better metabolic rate helps in burning calories faster. Drinking cow milk regularly helps in maintaining the blood sugar levels in the body. Cow’s milk has essential minerals and vitamins that help in processing the food normally and helps to maintain the insulin and glucose level.

Buffaloes thrive best in the areas of moderate rainfall as they require plenty of water for their daily bath. They live on coarser grass and even then are heavy yielders of milk. Buffalo species is thought to have originated in India. Indian buffaloes are the descendant of Bos arni found in north-eastern parts of India, especially in Assam & surrounding areas. There are two main types of buffaloes in India: River and Swamp types. However, both are called Bubalus bubalis. Most of the buffaloes in India are river types, though swamp varieties are also found in certain parts of the country, especially in eastern parts. Buffalo is our main milch producing species, that’s why the contribution of buffaloes to the total milk production is larger than that of cattle. India is the home tract of some of the best buffalo breeds. Buffalo has the major share in milk production in India. It is one of the major way for doubling the income of farmer by mix farming. Buffaloes are more resistant to many diseases as compare to cattle. Everyone know that, buffaloes milk are superior than cattle milk, hence fetching more price.

Introduction

Quails are also called as Bater in Hindi. Quail farming business is economically very profitable. Quail farming in India is now recognized as an organized and scientifically based farming and a potential tool to fight with poverty and malnutrition. There is considerable scope for increasing the egg production further to meet the growing demand. The importance of quails in the poultry scenario of India is well recognized and quail production has registered a remarkable progress in the country since its introduction during mid seventies. Japanese quail farming offers a viable and practical solution to the problems of animal protein shortage and unemployment in developing countries. For small holders, it is an important source of income and employment generating venture besides providing nourishing food. Quail farming has been accepted by farmers as a potential alternative to chicken farming because of its small size, short incubation period, less floor space requirement, rapid growth, early onset of egg production, short generation interval, high rate of egg production, less susceptible to disease and low feed intake.

Quails are one of the most efficient biological machines for converting feed into animal of high biological value. At present in India, quails occupy the third largest position among poultry species next to the chicken and ducks. Quail meat is renounced for richness in vitamins, essential amino acids, unsaturated fatty acids, phospholipids and macro and micro elements. Cholesterol level is low as compared to chicken in quail egg and quail meat. Quail can adapt to varying environmental condition because of its hardy nature. Quail production requires less investment, gives quick return and higher profits and hence can be adapted by rural mass quickly. Incubation period of Japanese quail is 18 days. The Bob white quail is the second most important breeds of quail. Incubation period is 21 days. Quails were introduced in India in CARI in Izzatnagar in 1976 procuring hatching eggs from University of California.

Introduction

A hatchery is such a facility where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions, especially those of poultry eggs. Poultry hatchery produce a majority of bird’s chicks by hatching their eggs including chicken, turkey, ducks, quails, goose and some minor bird species. A broiler breeder produces about 150-180 fertile eggs in a year of reproductive life. This reproductive capacity can’t be utilized without liberating the breeding hen from incubating eggs. In India, there is huge demand of day old chicks for commercial poultry farming and for that there is great scope for hatchery business. The competition in the hatchery industry is increasing day by day for efficient production of quality chicks economically. Therefore, it may be necessary for the hatchery man have thorough understanding of the basic and practical aspects of incubation and hatchery operation for efficient working.

Introduction

Mithun is to be originated before more than 3000 years ago. Mithuns are found over a large area of southest Asia. This animal’s natural habitat is in the forests of highlands. In addition to meat production, Mithuns are used for sacrificial purposes and also for barter trade. Even today, Mithun is used as a holy sacrificial animal to appease the god by the tribe people. Mithun is a unique bovine species which are situated at limited geographical distribution. It is mainly found in the tropical rain forests of North Eastern hilly states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram of India. Mithun is also known as “Cattle of Mountain”. In Indian subcontinents, Mithun is also known as “Gayal” (Bos frontalis). In Myanmar and Bhutan, it is called Mithun, whereas in China, it is called Dulong cattle.

Mithun is a magnificent massive bovine and is presently reared under free range condition in the hill forests at an altitude of 1000 to 3000 m above mean sea level. Mithun plays an important role in the socio-economic and cultural life of the local tribal population. Presently, this animal is mainly reared for meat, which is considered to be more tender and superior over the meat of any other species. Although, Mithun produce less quantity of milk and can be used for preparation of various milk products. Leather obtained from this species has been found to be superior to cattle.

The massive unique beautiful animal is anatomically a physiologically well adapted to high altitude. Mithun is a social animal; they establish small groups usually containing an adult male and several female and juveniles. It is a potential source of delicious meat, and it can also be used for improvement of local, native cattle breeds. Mithun hide has almost three times the size and thickness that of native cattle.

Introduction

The livestock enterprise is complementary to crop production providing a balance and protective program of farming. Farming that combine’s crop production with livestock rearing is called mixed farming. If cow, buffalo. Poultry, piggery, sheep, goat etc. has more than 10 % contribution to grow gross income of farm is called Diversified type of farming.

Introduction

Sheep is a multi-utility animal used for the production of wool, meat, skins and manure. They don’t require costly structures to house them. Sheep are sparing convertor of grass into meat and wool. The structure of their lips causes them to clean grains last to collect time and in this way convert waste feed into gainful items. Sheep eat different types of weed plant. This makes them phenomenal weed destroyer. They don’t damage plant like goats. They thrive well even under bad management practices. Unemployed youth can adopt sheep rearing as a source of gainful employment. Total sheep population in the country is 74.26 million during 2019. Total sheep has increased by 14.133% over previous livestock census (2012). About 13.8 % of the total livestock is contributed by sheep.

Introduction

Goat is being raised for centuries as poor man’s cow due to its importance of providing employment in rural areas by producing meat and healthy meat. Goats also play a major role in agriculture economy of India. Goat is excellent source of additional income for poor and landless owners. The goat milk is nutritious and easily digestible milk to their kids. Goats are easy to maintain as they can graze on open land. Goat farming is an excellent option where fodder and forage is limited. Goat farmers can get good returns with successful goat rearing. Now a day, goat farming has become more commercial and many people are taking up as a challenge to meet the demand and supply. Rank of India in goat population is 2^nd. Total goat population in the country is 148.88 million during 2019. Total goat has increased by 10.14% over previous livestock census (2012). About 27.8 % of the total is contributed by goats.

Introduction

Buffalo dairy farming is a profitable business and has good potential for employment generation. India has 575 of world buffalo population. Buffalo milk contributes 57% of total milk production. Buffaloes have several advantages over crossbred cows as farm animal. They are well adapted to agro climatic conditions of our country. They are more disease resistant in comparison to crossbred cow (less incidence of milk fever and mastitis in buffaloes). They can thrive well on crop residues. Buffalo milk contains more buffalo fat for which the price of buffalo milk is more. Dairy farming is a profitable business for every class of people. It provides an excellent opportunity for self employment for unemployed youth. It is also an important source of income generation to small/marginal farmer and agriculture laborers. India is the largest milk producers in the world and having the first rank in world in milk production. Per capita availability of milk in India is 394 gm/day and in Jammu and Kashmir, it is 401 gm/day (2018-2019). The demand and supply of milk and milk products are increasing rapidly. There is a vast scope of dairy farming in our country.

The increasing cost of feed ingredients and its seasonal variability can be reduced by undertaking fodder cultivation. Before starting a dairy farm, the entrepreneurs/ farmers are advised to undergo training on dairy farming. Farmers can contact Local Animal Husbandry Staff/ Veterinary colleges/ Agriculture University etc. for this purpose. Farmer should also visit progressive dairy farmers and Agricultural University in the locality. Farmer must check the following points before starting a dairy farm.

Introduction

Dairy farming is a profitable business for every class of people. It provides an excellent opportunity for self employment for unemployed youth. It is also an important source of income generation to small/marginal farmer and agriculture laborers. India is the largest milk producers in the world and having the first rank rank in world in milk production. Per capita availability of milk in India is 394 gm/day and in Jammu and Kashmir, it is 401 gm/day (2018-2019). The demand and supply of milk and milk products are increasing rapidly. There is a vast scope of dairy farming in our country.

The increasing cost of feed ingredients and its seasonal variability can be reduced by undertaking fodder cultivation. Before starting a dairy farm, the entrepreneurs/ farmers are advised to undergo training on dairy farming. Farmers can contact Local Animal Husbandry Staff/ Veterinary colleges/ Agriculture University etc. for this purpose. Farmer should also visit progressive dairy farmers and Agricultural University in the locality. Farmer must check the following points before starting a dairy farm.

Introduction

The camel is an important animal part of the desert eco-system. With its unique characteristics, the camel has becomes adapted to tough way of living in arid and semi arid region. The camel called “Ship of desert”, because he can walk across the desert, even on a hot afternoon and Hot sand also can’t affect it. He can run on hot sand@ 25 km per hour with his thick and padded feet, so hot sun does not burn them. In desert, there are no rivers or lakes, then also it can’t affect to camel because he can drink 46 litres of water at a one time. He can eat a lot of food at one time, so he doesn’t need to eat for several days. Camel eats leaves, but there are no trees in a desert, so he can eat thorns with the help of thick lips and thick tongue. Camels in India are reared under extensive type of system. Camels are also kept in small numbers under intensive system, particularly for the routine work such as camel cart traction, transport for men and materials, agriculture operation. Seasonal movement of camel herds to the areas having comparatively better pasture facilities is a quite common practice. A camel is even toed ungulates that having distinctive fatty deposit on its back (hump). Camels have been domesticated as livestock. They provide food (milk + meat) and textile (fibres and felt from hairs). Camels are working animals especially suited to desert habitat as vital means of transport for passengers and goods. There are three species of camels.

Introduction

Yak is a main source of livelihood for the high altitude residents in Ladakh. The domestic yak (Bos grunniens) is a long haired domesticated bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent as well as in the Tibetan plateau, Mongolia and Russia. They are originated from the wild yaks. Yaks are belonging to the genus Bos. The yak is the only bovine species (ruminant) which resides in the high hills of the Himalayas even at altitudes of 6000 meters above the mean sea level. The normal living range of yak is at 3000 to 4500 meters height from the mean sea level which are tree less uplands. Similar to domestic cattle and goat, Chromosomes number of yak is 60. Zoological name of yak is Poephagus grunniens or Bos grunniens.

Distribution

The distribution of Yak is majorly found in Northern Ladakh, the plateau of Tibet and part of the Kansu province in China. Within India, yak mostly found in Changechenmo valley in Ladak and spiti valleys of Himachal Pradesh, and also in North Eastern states, particularly in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Nagaland. Small number of yaks is also found in Garhwal district of Uttar Pradesh. It is native in Tibet country as well as surrounding countries in Central Asia. The yak is also found in Pakistan, Northern Afghanisthan, Bhutan, Mongolia and in China.

Introduction

Sheeps were first domesticated by human being, many thousands of years ago for their wool, meat and skins. It provides a source of income to the shepherds through sale of wool and animal. Sheep do not need expensive building to house them and require less labour than other kinds of livestock. The foundation stock is relatively cheap and the flock can be multiplied rapidly. Sheep are economical convertor of grass into meat and wool. Sheep will eat varied kinds of plants compared to other kind of livestock. This makes them excellent weed destroyer. Unlike goats sheep hardly damage any tree. The production of wool, meat and manure provides three different source of income to the shepherd. The structure of their lips helps them to clean grains lost at harvest time and thus convert waste feed into profitable products.

Introduction

Goat is being raised for centuries as poor man’s cow due to its importance of providing employment in rural areas by producing meat and healthy meat. Goats also play major role in agriculture economy of India. Goat is excellent source of additional income for poor and landless owners. Farm can start from 1 male goat and 1 female goat. The goat milk is nutritious and easily digestible milk to their kids. Goats are easy to maintain as they can graze on open land. Goat farming is an excellent option where fodder and forage is limited. Goat farmers can get good returns with successful goat rearing. Now a day, goat farming has become more commercial and many people are taking up as a challenge to meet the demand and supply. There is good encouragement from governments and providing subsidies on especially stall fed goat farming. Most of the farmers, choosing stall fed goat farming as it has its own advantages as compared to open grazing methods.

Goats are among the main meat producing animal in India, whose meat (chevon) is one of the choicest meats and has huge domestic demand. Due to its good economic prospects, goat rearing under intensive and semi-intensive system for commercial production has been gaining momentum for the doubling the income of the farmers. High demand of goat and its products with potential of good economic returns have been deriving many progressive farmers, business, professionals, ex-servicemen and educated youths to take up the goat enterprise on a commercial scale. The emerging favorable market conditions and easy accessibility to improved goat technologies are also catching the attention of entrepreneurs. A number of commercial goat farms have been established in different region of the country. Initially, farmer may face a number of problems like high cost of production, high mortality and low price of the produce, but proper training and experience may resolve this problem. In an average, mortality in the goat farm is 3-8% per annum. The contribution of goat in total livestock is 27.80% which is a major share goat in total livestock. The rank of India in Goat population is 2^nd.

Introduction

Commercial poultry farming in India has creating profitable business opportunity for entrepreneurs. Poultry farming business can provide a great employment source for the job seeking people. This is such as business in India that can never dry up. All types of poultry product have a great demand in the market inside India. There is no religious taboo about consuming the poultry meat and egg. Highly productive local and foreign breeds are available for commercial production. Requirement of initial investment for poultry farming is not too high. You can start small scale production and elaborate it gradually. Bank loans are available throughout the country. Numerous forms are available and you can easily learn about poultry farming from those established farmers. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Samba and Animal Husbandry department of Jammu & Kashmir are providing lot of scheme and vocational training regarding poultry farming for betterment of farmers.

Introduction

Horses are adapted for run to quickly escape from predator. They possess an excellent sense of balance and strong fight or flight response. Related to this need to flee from predator in the wild is an extraordinary trait. Horses are able to sleep both ways i.e. standing up and lying down. Horses and humans interact in a wide variety of sport competitions and non-competitive recreational pursuit, as well as in working activities such as police work, agricultural, entertainment and therapy. Horses were historically used in warfare, from which a wide variety of riding and driving techniques developed using many different styles of equipments and methods of control. Many products are derived from horses, including meat, milk, hide, hair, bones, and pharmaceuticals extracted from the urine of pregnant mares.

Unit of measurement of Horse is Hand (1 Hand= 4 inch). NRC equine situated at Hissar, Haryana. Mares may give milk up to 18 litres daily. Famous donkey sanctuary situated at Devon in U.K. In India, there are 6 well known distinct breed of horses i.e. Marwari (Origin: Rajasthan), Kathiawari (Origin: Gujrat), Spiti (Origin: Tibet and Himachal Pradesh), Zankari (Origin: Jammu and Kashmir), Manipuri (Origin: Manipur and Assam) and Bhutia (Origin: Sikkim and Darjeeling). Besides these, FAO also recognized 3 more breeds: i.e. Chummarti (Origin: Tibet), Deccani, Sikang.

Introduction

Goat is being raised for centuries as poor man’s cow due to its importance of providing employment in rural areas by producing meat and healthy meat. Goats also play major role in agriculture economy of India. Goat is excellent source of additional income for poor and landless owners. Farm can start from 1 male goat and 1 female goat. The goat milk is nutritious and easily digestible milk to their kids. Goats are easy to maintain as they can graze on open land. Goat farming is an excellent option where fodder and forage is limited. Goat farmers can get good returns with successful goat rearing. Now a day, goat farming has become more commercial and many people are taking up as a challenge to meet the demand and supply. There is good encouragement from governments and providing subsidies on especially stall fed goat farming. Most of the farmers, choosing stall fed goat farming as it has its own advantages as compared to open grazing methods.

Introduction

Sheeps were first domesticated by human being, many thousands of years ago for their wool, meat and skins. It provides a source of income to the shepherds through sale of wool and animal. Sheep do not need expensive building to house them and require less labour than other kinds of livestock. The foundation stock is relatively cheap and the flock can be multiplied rapidly. Sheep are economical convertor of grass into meat and wool. Sheep will eat varied kinds of plants compared to other kind of livestock. This makes them excellent weed destroyer. Unlike goats sheep hardly damage any tree. The production of wool, meat and manure provides three different source of income to the shepherd. The structure of their lips helps them to clean grains lost at harvest time and thus convert waste feed into profitable products.

Introduction

Milk is a natural food source of mammals. Animals produce milk to feed their young-ones until they are ready for solid feed. Cow milk contains protein, vitamins and minerals which are essential for the overall growth of the body. Cow milk contains a lot of nutrients and it has great role for overall health. Cow milk helps to boost the immune system of humans. Cow milk has a high content of calcium and minerals which plays a key role in maintaining bone density. Because of its high calcium content, cow’s milk is also considered great for teeth health. Cow milk has all essential amino acids that are required for growth and development. It is very beneficial for children as it helps to grow with physically and mentally. Cow milk help to reduce weight loss as it loaded with protein which is essential for weight loss. Calcium and vitamin D of milk increases the metabolic rate of the body. A better metabolic rate helps in burning calories faster. Drinking cow milk regularly helps you in maintaining the blood sugar levels in the body. Cow’s milk has essential minerals and vitamins that help in processing the food normally and this helps to maintain the insulin and glucose level.

Introduction

Poultry farming is the process of raising domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys, quails, guinea fowls, and geese for the purpose of farming meat or egg for food. Indian poultry industry is one of the fasted growing segments of the agricultural sector today in India. Undoubtedly, this impressive growth is a result of several factors such as active development support from the state and central government, research institutes, international collaboration and private sector participation. Indian poultry industry is self sufficient, supported by a broad and strong genetic base in which the productivity levels of broilers and layers are equal to those achieved elsewhere (i.e. in the United States of America and the European Union). Raising of day old chicks up to the stage of sale with assistance in the form of services from hatcheries, medical care from veterinarians, supply of medicine from pharmaceutical companies, manufacturing quality medicine, supply of poultry equipments and supply of nutritive poultry feed by commercial poultry feed manufacturers and financial assistance from various financial institutions are included under poultry industry.

In the recent days, poultry farming has become an important industry in our country. The changes, it has undergone in the past few years are quite surprising. The scope of the poultry farming is very much and there is lot of chances for improvement in this field. With the help of sophisticated instruments, the production of poultry products can be increased. Creation of public aware is needed for overall development of poultry industry. The egg is needed for over all development of poultry industry. The egg earlier treated as non-vegetarian item, is not being considered by most as not so.

Introduction

Commercial pig farming in India is one of the best and profitable business ideas for the Indian people. There are several highly meat producing pig breeds available around the globes. Some of those are very suitable for commercial meat production according to the weather and climate of India. A few years back, pig farming had a bad image in the society, but at present at scenario has changed tremendously and commercial pig farming in India is no more restricted to lower class people. Now peoples are conscious about the economic value of pigs like other domestic livestock animals; and higher cast, educated people also started commercial pig farming business in a modern and scientific manner.

Among all domestic animals, pigs are the most prolific animal, giving 6-12 piglets in every litter and they are fast growing, attain a body weight of about 68 kg in about 6-8 months time, when they can slaughter. Pig has shortest generation interval among meat producing livestock. Pig products such as pork, bacon, ham, sausages, lord (pig fat) are increasingly in demand both for local consumption and for export. Pig skin used for the manufacture of light leather goods. Pig manure contains Nitrogen: 0.70%, Phosphorus: 0.60% and Potassium: 0.70%. Swine has superior feed conversion power (1: 3-3.5). Swine store fat rapidly. Pigs are prolific and bring quick return. A unit of 10 sows and 1 boar will produce about 160 piglets during the first year. Gilts may be bred between the ages of about 8-9 months furrowing when approximately 13 months old. Piggery enterprise requires moderate investment. Pig has highest dressing percentage (Pig: 65-80%) as compare to cattle (50-60%) and lamb and sheep (45-55%). Pork is the most nutritious meat. Pig is extremely sensitive to unfavorable ration and to careless management. Pigs are very susceptible to numerous diseases and parasites. Sow should required skilled attendants at the time of furrowing.

Introduction

Commercial pig farming in India is one of the best and profitable business ideas for the Indian people. There are several highly meat producing pig breeds available around the globes. Some of those are very suitable for commercial meat production according to the weather and climate of India. A few years back, pig farming had a bad image in the society, but at present at scenario has changed tremendously and commercial pig farming in India is no more restricted to lower class people. Now peoples are conscious about the economic value of pigs like other domestic livestock animals; and higher cast, educated people also started commercial pig farming business in a modern and scientific manner.

Among all domestic animals, pigs are the most prolific animal, giving 6-12 piglets in every litter and they are fast growing, attain a body weight of about 68 kg in about 6-8 months time, when they can slaughter. Pig has shortest generation interval among meat producing livestock. Pig products such as pork, bacon, ham, sausages, lord (pig fat) are increasingly in demand both for local consumption and for export. Pig skin used for the manufacture of light leather goods. Pig manure contains Nitrogen: 0.70%, Phosphorus: 0.60% and Potassium: 0.70%. Swine has superior feed conversion power (1: 3-3.5). Swine store fat rapidly. Pigs are prolific and bring quick return. A unit of 10 sows and 1 boar will produce about 160 piglets during the first year. Gilts may be bred between the ages of about 8-9 months furrowing when approximately 13 months old. Piggery enterprise requires moderate investment. Pig has highest dressing percentage (Pig: 65-80%) as compare to cattle (50-60%) and lamb and sheep (45-55%). Pork is the most nutritious meat. Pig is extremely sensitive to unfavorable ration and to careless management. Pigs are very susceptible to numerous diseases and parasites. Sow should required skilled attendants at the time of furrowing.

Introduction

Buffaloes thrive best in the areas of moderate rainfall as they require plenty of water for their daily bath. They live on coarser grass and even then are heavy yielders of milk. Buffalo species is thought to have originated in India. Indian buffaloes are the descendant of Bos arni found in north-eastern parts of India, especially in Assam & surrounding areas. There are two main types of buffaloes in India: River and Swamp types. However, both are called Bubalus bubalis. Most of the buffaloes in India are river types, though swamp varieties are also found in certain parts of the country, especially in eastern parts. Buffalo is our main milch producing species, that’s why the contribution of buffaloes to the total milk production is larger than that of cattle. India is the home tract of some of the best buffalo breeds.

Introduction

The total Livestock population is 535.78 million in the country showing an increase of 4.6 % over Livestock census-2012. Total Bovine population (Cattle, Buffalo, Mithun and Yak) is 302.79 million in 2019 which shows an increase of above 1% over the previous census. The total number of cattle in the country in 2019 is 192.49 million showing an increase of 0.8% over the previous census. The female cattle (Cow population) is 145.12 million, increased by 18 % over the previous census (2012). The exotic/cross bred population in India is 50.42 million. Indigenous /non destript female population has increased by 10% in 2019 as compared to previous census. The population of the total exotic/ crossbred cattle has increased by 26.9% as compared to previous census. However, the pace of decline of indigenous/non-descript cattle population during 2012-2019 is much lesser than as compared to the 2007-12 which was about 9%. The buffalo in the country is 109.85 million showing an increase of 6.0% over the previous census. The sheep population in the country is 74.26 million in 2019, increased by 14.1% over the previous census. The goat population in the country in 2019 is 148.88 million showing an increase of 10.1 % over the previous census. The total pigs in the country is 9.06 million in the country census, decline by 12.03% over the previous census. The other livestock including Mithun, Yak, Horses, Ponies, Mule, Donkeys, Camel together contribute around 0.23% of the total livestock and their total count is 1.24 million.

India is on the progressive path of development and its rural population is an integral part of this growth trajectory. As India gears up for an era of increased digitalisation, the issue of holistic and inclusive economic growth remains a pivotal concern. Hitachi, one of the leading Japanese conglomerate with a global footprint and a forerunner in digital innovation, has been an active contributor in transforming millions of Indian lives, its services reaching far beyond citizens within city limits. While India is one of the world’s fastest-developing economy, equitable growth remains a critical imperative. The rural population today constitutes above 45% of the national income. In 2050, despite urbanization, over half of India’s population will still be rural. Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi has prioritized radical digitalisation to induce economic inclusiveness through a host of initiatives. ‘Digital India’, ‘Make in India’ and ‘Skill India’ provide for impetus and opportunity to rural citizens, to ensure they are equal participants in India’s growth story. Digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how you operate and deliver value to customers. It’s also a cultural change that requires organizations to continually challenge the status quo, experiment, and get comfortable with failure. In many developed countries, farming has been modernized by a wave of technologies, adopted at farm level.

Digital technologies are finding increasing use in the agricultural value system, and High-tech farming is becoming the standard, thanks to use of sensors, logic controlled systems, data analytics, etc. In India, the increasing availability of energy and internet connectivity to the large rural landscape is further accelerating such changes. Digitised information systems allow remote access to knowledge, has given rise to group sharing and continue even now to revamp how societal exchanges happen interpersonally, commercially and in the extension services system. The digital spectrogram can be compared against a large database and spectral analysis can diagnose the contents of the sample. This analysis can happen in the cloud, and results communicated to the farmers almost instantaneously. There exist various similar technologies where a sample from a field, gets converted into digital information, is promptly analysed to provide accurate results, which then allows farmers to take decisions best suited to the land they farm on. The availability of satellite imagery, infrared imagery, and a myriad of remote inputs allow for more accurate weather forecasts, advance warnings on pest infestation and similar, and more. Instead of traditional homilies about temperature and rainfall events, the farmers now consult and share the advisories and forecasts of the same.

Technological change has been the major driving force for increasing agricultural productivity and promoting agriculture development across the world. In the past, the choice of technologies and their adoption was to increase production, productivity and farm incomes. Over many decades, policies for agriculture, trade, research and development, education, training and advice have been strong influences on the choice of technology, the level of agricultural production and farm practices. Agricultural production today faces several challenges: an increasing world population has to be fed, but at the same time the environment and animal welfare need to be protected. Globalisation has led to increasing international competition, while the agricultural sector is also under heavy economic pressure as a result of regulation. These conditions can perhaps only be met by innovation, be it on the technological or on the systems-level (OECD, 2001). Agriculture is becoming more integrated in the agro-food chain and the global market, while environmental, food safety and quality, and animal welfare regulations are also increasingly impacting on the sector. It is faced with new challenges to meet growing demands for food, to be internationally competitive and to produce agricultural products of high quality. At the same time, it must meet sustainability goals in the context of on-going agricultural policy reform, further trade liberalization and the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements as agreed to by the government.

6.1 Introduction

India experienced an impressive growth and productivity gains in agriculture since Independence reflecting our farmers’ resilience against multiple odds and challenges. Despite a structural transformation post-Green Revolution, characterized by a consumer centric and food security policy objective, the regular distress and crises in the recent past pose a severe threat to income and livelihood security of farmers. The income realised from agriculture compared to nonagriculture, has been too low with a wide variation across regions. The average income of an agricultural household during 2012-13 has been estimated as low as at `6426 per month, marginally higher than the average consumption expenditure (`6223). Further, around 23 per cent of the farmers still live below the poverty line (DFI Committee, 2017a). Estimates from the Central Statistics Office’s (CSO) indicated that the annual growth in gross value added from agriculture has reduced drastically from as high as 6.9% (October-December, 2016) to a mere 2.3% (April-June, 2017) at 2011-12 prices in the recent past ten quarters. Shockingly, the growth was lower in nominal terms in comparison to real prices during the April-June, 2017 quarter indicating the creeping deflation in farm sector.

Agriculture has been very successful in addressing the food and fiber needs of today’s world population. However, there are increasing concerns about the economic, environmental and social costs of this success. Integrated agricultural systems may provide a means to address these concerns while increasing sustainability. Integrated agricultural systems have multiple enterprises that interact in space and time, resulting in a synergistic resource transfer among enterprises. In an integrated agricultural system, management decisions, such as type and amount of commodities to produce, are predetermined. Full integration of agricultural systems at the producer or community scale may help in slowing or reversing some of the detrimental environmental and economic problems associated with specialized industrial agriculture. Modern agriculture requires intensive inputs.

Earthworms have been on the earth for over 20 million years. In this time they have faithfully done their part to keep the cycle of life continuously moving. Their purpose is simple but very important. They are nature’s way of recycling organic nutrients from dead tissues back to living organisms. Many have recognized the value of these worms. Ancient civilizations, including Greece and Egypt valued the role of earthworms played in soil. The Egyptian Pharaoh, Cleopatra said, “Earthworms are sacred”

4.1 Earthworms

Earthworms belong to Phylum Annelida of animal Kingdom. They are long and cylindrical shape, length of earthworms vary from a few mm to nearly 3mtr as noted in case of Megas colex species found in Australia. The body of earthworms has a large number of grooves. Due to these grooves the body of the earthworm is divided into number of compartments called segments. In mature earthworms, few anterior segments appear swollen due to glandular thickening. This part is called as clitellum. The segments are not clearly seen in this part. There are 2500 to 3,000 species of earthworms in the world which are adapted to range of environment. More than 350 species have been identified in India. The species of earthworms are differentiated mostly on the basis of external features such as length of earthworms, number of segments, position of clitellum and external aperture present on the body. Earthworms were referred by Aristotle as “the intestines of earth and the restoring agents of soil fertility”

The earlier products of bio-fertilizers were carrier (solid) based where lignite is usually added as a carrier material. Lignite is hazardous to the production workers. Also, the shelf life of carrier based bio-fertilizers is only 6 months and is difficult to transport. Liquid Biofertilizers (LBFs) on the other hand have a shelf life of minimum one year, with no health hazards to production workers and are easy to transport. Additionally, LBF can be used in drip irrigation and as a component of organic farming. The liquid Bio fertilizers are suspensions having agriculturally useful microorganisms, which fix atmospheric nitrogen and solubilize insoluble phosphates and make it available for the plants. The use of this biofertilizer is environment friendly and gives uniform results for most of the agricultural crops and directly reduces the use of chemical fertilizer by 15 to 40%. The shelf life of the liquid bio fertilizer is higher (in the range of one to two years) compared to that of solid matrix base biofertilizer.

3.1 Definition

Liquid biofertilizers are liquid formulation containing the dormant form of desired microorganisms and their nutrients along with the substances that encourage formation of resting spores or cysts for longer shelf life and tolerance to adverse conditions. The dormant form on reaching the soil, germinate to produce fresh batch of active cells. These cells grow and multiply by utilizing the carbon source in the soil or from root exudates.

“A preparation comprising requirements to preserve organisms and deliver them to the target regions to improve their biological activity” or “A consortium of micro-organisms provided with suitable medium to keep up their viability for certain period which aids in enhancing the biological activity of the target site”.

2.1 Introduction

Microbes are the oldest form of the life on earth. These organisms date more than 3 billion years to a time when they were covered with oceans. They are so tiny in size that million microbes can fit into the eye of a needle. Without microbes, we can’t live. Thus, understanding microbes is vital to understanding past and future. Microbes play vary roles in the earth’s environment recycling dead plant and animal matter through the soil, removing CO₂ from the atmosphere by photosynthesis in the oceans and nitrogen from the atmosphere to form nitrogenous fertilizers plants. Microbes play an important role in nutrient recycling, management, organic matter, decomposition and increasing the crop productivity and quality against diseases. Over the past century, many of the basic scientific principles of plant nutrition and soil fertility have been explained. In developed countries, inorganic chemical fertilizers have been widely accepted as a major source of improving and maintaining soil fertility. Plants need sufficient nutrients in proper balance for normal growth and development. Seventeen plant nutrients are essential for proper crop development. Each is equally important to the plant, yet each is required in vastly different amounts. Our understanding of nutritional needs of crop plants begin from the famous five year willow tree experiment conducted by J.B. van Helmont (1579–1644).

Sustainable development has caught the imagination and action across the world. Sustainable agriculture is necessary to attain the goal of sustainable development. The word “sustain,” is derived from the Latin sustinere (sus-, from below and tenere, to hold), to keep in existence or maintain, implies long-term support or permanence. As it pertains to agriculture, sustainable describes “Farming systems that are capable of maintaining productivity and usefulness to society indefinitely. Such systems must be resource-conserving, socially supportive, commercially competitive, and environmentally sound”. “Sustainable agriculture is the successful management of resources for agriculture to satisfy changing human needs while maintaining or enhancing the quality of environment and conserving natural resources” (FAO). All definitions of sustainable agriculture lay great emphasis on maintaining an agriculture growth rate, which can meet the demand for food of all living things without draining the basic resources. Over time, the International Alliance for sustainable agriculture and an increasing number of researchers, farmers, policy-makers and organizations worldwide have developed a definition that unifies many diverse elements into a widely adopted, comprehensive, working definition

Shrimp culture is slowly emerging as one of the major and fastest growing food production sector in the world. High demand in the international market encouraged many developing countries to grow shrimp in their coastal areas. Many countries including India earn sizable foreign exchanges by exporting both shrimp and frozen shrimp. International institutions like the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) etc. have also encouraged production of shrimp that fetch huge returns on investment within a short period of time. Indigent coastal people in India have been farming fish for hundreds of years. The warm climate, accessibility to coast, saline water and relatively low wage rate provides a comparative advantage for shrimp cultivation. Commercial shrimp farming developed in India on account of the government’s policy to promote shrimp culture in view of its potential to utilise the vast saline tracts along the coastline and to provide employment opportunities to coastal rural population. After the liberalization, development of shrimp culture gained greater momentum in the country. Individual entrepreneurs were also encouraged to take up shrimp farming with both financial and technical support from the government.

‘Shrimp’ which is an aquatic organism inhabiting the sea, estuaries and backwaters remained the backbone of Indian marine products exports. Shrimp is a protein-rich food with universal taste. Shrimp farming is a short duration activity and therefore, provides quick return on investment. It also provides gainful employment opportunities to the rural poor in the remote coastal areas. The value of shrimp exported in 2011-12 from India was estimated at about Rs. 8175.26 crores (US$ 1741.20 million). According to an estimate made by MPEDA, one hectare of shrimp culture operation can provide direct employment to atleast two persons and can also generate indirect employment to the extent of 1100 man-days.

Shrimp culture has a long tradition in India that began with the tidal stocking of shrimp in paddy fields and lagoons and holding them until harvest. More intensive forms of shrimp farming developed rapidly during the 1990’s. As was the case in many other nations in Asia, the development of shrimp farming in India took place without planning and regulation. This resulted in a variety of environmental problems and social conflicts. Although India has benefited from rising foreign exchange earnings, the conflict of coastal communities with shrimp farming has prompted a heated debate over the relevance of aquaculture in coastal ecosystem. Questions have been raised on its sustainability in the long run and some people also accused that this culture has disturbed the social harmony and has raised the inequality level in the rural areas.

The impetus for the development of aquaculture extends beyond food production. Aquaculture can help to diversify rural employment opportunities, reduce trade deficits, reduce pressure on living marine resources and rebuild depleted wild stocks (FAO, 2000b). The rapid development of coastal aquaculture, however, is now an area of critical international concern owing to the immense role it plays in transforming coastal landscapes and livelihoods. With the advent of new technology and rising global demand for fish and fish products, the basic character of aquaculture in coastal communities is changing dramatically. Traditional, low production forms of aqua-culture catering to local households are being supplanted by modern, resource intensive high production systems that cater to international markets. This restructuring has generated widespread concern over the contribution of aquaculture to the degradation of coastal ecosystems and the social and economic costs that are being passed on to the rural poor leading to growing inequality (Lakshmi and Rajagopalan, 2000).

There is large-scale conversion of wetlands including mangroves for other uses despite their valuable functioning, products and attributes. Normal market forces always favour the conversion of mangroves (and other wetlands) to other uses and ; many alternative uses of natural mangroves in tropical and sub-tropical coastal areas have produced disappointing economic results due to low and declining productivity (eg. abandoned shrimp ponds due to unscientific shrimp farming in formerly mangrove areas) (Dixon and Lal, 1997).

The large-scale destruction of mangroves for shrimp ponds has adversely affected the productivity of nearby fisheries and consequently the economic conditions of traditional fishermen households. The conversion of mangrove forest into shrimp ponds in the coastal areas in Asia including India is nothing but redistribution of income from poor fishermen to rich investors, mostly non-fishermen marine product industrialists and merchants. (Maler, 1998). The destruction of mangrove forests in India, China, Thailand and other Asian countries is synonymous with the destruction of fishing grounds of the traditional fishermen leading to their occupational displacement.

The livelihood of millions of people depends on shrimp farming around the world, especially in tropical and sub-tropical developing countries. On the other hand, failure to protect the ecosystem and environment from degradation due to shrimp farming is a major concern. The long-term sustainability of this industry depends on its ability to be economically efficient, and at the same time to minimize environmental effects. Therefore, it is important to consider both the economic outcomes and various environmental effects in achieving a more sustainable industry. From this viewpoint, an attempt has been made to explore the key environmental aspects of shrimp farming in the world in general, and in Dhamara area in particular.

Impacts of shrimp farming are mainly in four areas, namely, land resources, water resources, forest resources and fishery resources.

Introduction

This chapter has analysed the impact of shrimp farming on the farmer households. Income and employment generation being two important aspects, impact of shrimp culture on these two are discussed in this chapter. The income generated through shrimp culture is compared with the income from paddy cultivation. Returns to scale and returns to labour from shrimp culture are discussed to know whether shrimp culture is a preferred activity compared to paddy cultivation or not. Besides, the impact of shrimp farming on asset creation, expenditure pattern and savings behaviour of the sample households has been discussed in this chapter.

Marine shrimp farming is a century-old practice. Until a decade ago, this commodity was generally considered a secondary crop in traditional fish farming practices. Shrimp fry trapped in salt beds, coastal paddy fields, or brackish water fishponds are allowed to grow to marketable size and harvested as a secondary crop. However, in recent years when higher income are derived from the harvest of shrimp than the principal crop, many farmers have converted their rice fields, salt beds and fishponds into shrimp farms.

In the traditional farming system, the ponds are stocked with fry either collected from the wild or concentrated through tidal water entering the ponds. Shrimp production is inconsistent and varies from year to year due to the dependence on seasonal supply of fry from the wild. Pond yield is also low (100–300 kg/ha/ year) because of inefficient control of predators and competitors, full dependence on natural food and inadequate pond depth.

Some improvements of the traditional farming methods have been made in the past years. The stocking density of shrimp ponds can be increased through the concentration of fry by pumping more tidal water into the pond. Pond depth is increased to minimize fluctuations of environmental parameters. As a result, pond yield has correspondingly increased. However, the expansion of the shrimp farming industry is still restricted due to the inconsistency in fry supply.

This chapter is framed with different factors relating to socio-economic profile of shrimp farmers in Dhamara coastal zone. Shrimp farming offers significant employment opportunities, which may help alleviate the poverty of the local coastal population in many areas, if it is properly managed. The published literature on that topic shows large discrepancies, and much of the available data is of anecdotal nature. Estimates of the labor-intensiveness of shrimp farms range from about three times less to three times more^] than when the same area was used for rice paddies, with much regional variation and depending on the type of farms surveyed. In general, intensive shrimp farming requires more labour per unit area than extensive farming. Extensive farms cover much more land area and are often but not always located in areas where no agricultural land uses are possible. Supporting industries such as feed production or storage, handling, and trade companies should also not be neglected, even if not all of them are exclusive to shrimp farming.

Typically, workers on a shrimp farm can get better wages than with other employments. A global estimate from one study is that a shrimp farm worker can earn 1.5-3 times as much as in other jobs; a study from India arrived at a salary increase of about 1.6, and a report from Mexico states that the lowest paid job at shrimp farms was paid in 1996 at 1.22 times the average worker salary in the country.

In this chapter, an attempt has been made to review some of the earlier studies related to shrimp farming and its socio-economic and environmental impacts. The related pieces of literature are classified into the following five categories.

Shrimp Pond Management

Economic Impact of Shrimp Farming

Social Impact of Shrimp Farming

Impact of Shrimp Farming on Environment

Acts and Policies Relating to Shrimp Farming

Shrimp culture, a subset of aquaculture is slowly emerging as one of the major and fastest-growing food production sectors in the world. Shrimp that were once caught from the wild are now being cultured using modern aquaculture methods. Thanks to international institutions such as the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) etc., who have the encouraged the production of shrimp that fetch huge returns on investment within a short period. Third world countries are also impressed by the potential of this sector to provide food security and to earn huge foreign exchange to redress their debt burdens.

Commercial shrimp farming developed in India on account of the government’s policy to promote shrimp culture because of its potential to utilise the vast saline tracts along the coastline, provide employment opportunities to coastal rural population and to earn valuable foreign exchange. After the liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991, development of shrimp culture gained greater momentum. Individual entrepreneurs were also encouraged to take up shrimp farming with both financial and technical support.

The market for shrimp is growing by leaps and bounds as they provide a cheap source of protein at only a little above half the cost of producing animal protein. The unique attraction of shrimp being a ‘high-value commodity’ has led to revolutionise its production, currently known as the ‘Blue Revolution’. The revolution has expanded its wings to the coastal areas of Odisha and is becoming one of the most sought out livelihood. The exponential increase in income leading to a dramatic change in the standard of living has lured the people to opt for shrimp culture. In almost all the coastal districts of the state (Odisha), shrimp culture is prominent now.

Flowsheet

Based on various experimentations concerning live fish transportation, a flow sheet may be prepared as:

Evaluation of the health status of the fishes purchased from the market to be packed for transportation. Serrated operculum and spiny fins, if any (as in Anabas testudineus) is serrated as it damages the packing materials. The trimmed fishes are treated with antibiotics and left for a week for wound healing.

In the case of abroad transportation of fish, clearance to the fitness of fishes is made available from a veterinary doctor/inspector. A no-objection certificate is also obtained from the office of the Marine Products Export Organization.

Proper sanitization of all the equipment and accessories for the determination of oxygen uptake of fishes as well as all the other steps of fish transportation in this pandemic of COVID-19.

Determination of oxygen requirement of the fish in terms of per hour and per unit body weight is essential. In the case of air-breathing fishes to be packed (Like Channa punctatus, Anabas testudineus, Clarias batrachus and Heteropneustes fossilis), determination of aerial and aquatic oxygen requirement of the fishes is essential. The oxygen requirement of oxygen was estimated from the calculated values of intercept (=a) and slope (=b). For this calculation, a relationship of aW^b is applied.

Fish transport is a vast area comprising the problems of purely technical design on the one hand, and the chemistry of water, biological reactions of fish and the like, on the other. The above survey could only briefly mention and evaluate the relevant literature on these problems. Because of its purpose, the book was designed not only as an analytical-synthetic survey of pertinent literature but, at the same time, as a practical manual to be used for seeking at least partial answers to practical questions concerning fish transport. The live fish trade is a rapidly expanding component of commercial fishing and aquaculture industries.

Proper sanitization of all the equipment and accessories is one of the essential steps for the determination of oxygen uptake of fishes as well as all the other steps of fish transportation in this pandemic of COVID-19.

In most of the underdeveloped and developing countries, regional diets are monotonous, unbalanced and poor in quality having a high percentage of starchy components and inadequate proportion of protein. The long-term solution to the problem of protein malnutrition lies in the greater production and better distribution of a protein-rich diet. Fish offers protein in a cheap and alternative form. Probably due to this, man has exploited the hydrosphere for food and consequently the history of the development of pisciculture. As the fish perishes rapidly, methods have been devised to keep the fish fresh between the catch and consumption.

The development of fisheries in India has attained considerable progress in increasing the per hectare yield of carps by controlled breeding and rearing of the young ones. Keeping the pace of development, the culture of air-breathing fishes has attracted the attention of aqua-culturists. Many varieties of these fishes have been successfully bred using pituitary extract (Ramaswami and Sundararaj, 1957; Moitra et al, 1979; Thakur, 1976). The traditional methods of transport of spawn, fry, fingerlings and even brooders in various open and closed systems pose major problems due to their heavy mortality. The mortality of live fishes is high mostly due to stress during transportation. For a long, studies on different aspects of transportation of carps and their allies have been carried out by fishery scientists. Some of the works which need special mention are that of Khan (1939, 1946), Ganapati and Chako (1951), Ranade and Kewalramani (1956), Saha and Chowdhury (1956), Saha et al, (1956a and b), Ramchandran (1969), Singh (1977), Selvaraj et al, (1981) and Jha (1995) etc. In comparison to Indian major carps, consumption of air-breathing fish is not so popular although they are a rich source of protein. However, their demand is gradually increasing. Much has to be done to meet the increasing demand of air-breathing fishes to exploit the maximum available derelict water.

The two commercially important Indian air-breathing fishes, Anabas testudineus (Bloch) and Channa punctatus (Bloch) commonly known as climbing perch and snake-headed murrel belong to the order Perciformes and Channiformes respectively. They live in different trophic zones of swamps and derelict ponds and are highly predatory habits. In the present work, oxygen uptake has been observed in Anabas testudineus and Channa punctatus concerning their body weight and group size. The effect of anaesthetic on the oxygen uptake and the effect of ammonia on the structure and function of the gills in Channa punctatus have also been studied. The findings have been used to evaluate suitable methods for long-distance transportation of these fishes. As we surviving in the COVID-19 pandemic, proper sanitization of all the equipment and accessories is one of the essential steps for fish transportation.

Introduction

In the past few decades, there has been a considerable demand for certain air-breathing fishes from India, mainly in the research laboratories of western countries. This is probably due to their unique modifications, especially in the respiratory and circulatory systems. Though, the air-breathing fishes are capable of extracting oxygen both from water as well as air, yet their transportation to long distances in living conditions posed several problems, such as hypoxia, injury, disease and finally death.

Proper sanitization of all the equipment and accessories is one of the essential steps for the study of the structure of gills, determination of oxygen uptake of fishes under normal conditions, under the association, under anaesthetization, under ammonia toxicity and all other steps of packing and transportation in this pandemic of COVID-19.

For effective live fish transportation, inside and out comprehension on the ideal ecological conditions for negligible pressure and greatest endurance is required. At the point when the fish leaves its normal climate, it should be in a self-supportable climate that provisions important necessities, for example, ideal temperature, oxygen and so forth.

Transportation of different life cycle stages (spawn, hatchlings, fry, fingerlings and adults) of fish is traditionally done in different types of containers. The age-old practice of transportation entails heavy mortality probably due to depletion of oxygen, hypertension of carbon dioxide, the toxicity of accumulating wastes, hyperactive strain and exhaustion, infection, injury and variation in pH, temperature, salinity and hardness etc (Jhingran, 1985). A portion of dissolved oxygen is utilized both by the fish and other microorganisms for their metabolism. As a result, the system becomes gradually deplete of oxygen and affects the fish. To overcome the problem of high mortality during transportation, it is essential to evaluate suitable conditions for their transportation. An inexpensive or less expensive method of live fish transport will help our aqua-culturists in many ways.

Introduction

Ammonia has been described as one of the most significant limiting factors for the growth and survival of aquatic living resources among water quality criteria (Russo and Thurston, 1991). Ammonia is a common pollutant of water bodies and forms the main nitrogenous waste in fishes (Tomasso et al, 1980). It enters the river and stream directly from livestock wastes and indirectly via poorly treated waste-water discharge. The chemistry of ammonia in freshwater has been extensively reviewed and its toxicity to the fish is generally expressed as ammonia concentration (EIFAC, 1970; WHO, 1986). Ammonia is produced mainly in the fish liver (Goldstein et al, 1982), it reaches the gills through the blood (Evans and More, 1988), excreted through the epithelium (Evans and Cameron, 1986) and finally released into the water body. The accumulation of nitrogen may induce alternations in branchial tissue and causes fish mortality (Peters et al, 1984; Woker and Wuhrmann, 1950).

Ammonia is a weak base, in the acidic range almost all the ammonia gets converted to ammonium ion (NH₄ ⁺) but only a fraction of ammonia forms such ion at alkaline pH. However, in physiological ranges (pH: 7 to 8) about 2.5% of ammonia exists in a unionized form (Paley et al, 1993). The toxicity of ammonia in water is mainly the result of its unionized form (Richardson, 1997). The unionized ammonia accounts for the major part of metabolic ammonia excretion by diffusion down its concentration gradient (Cameron and Heisler, 1983). The unionized ammonia determines the toxicity level in the water and brings about great problems in pisciculture by causing various diseases (Burrows, 1964; Smart, 1976) and alternations in normal physiology (Cairns et al, 1975; Sarkar and Pramanik, 1986). The ratio of unionized ammonia to the total ammonia mainly depends on the pH and temperature of the freshwater. The concentration of unionized ammonia increases with increasing pH and temperature (Emerson et al, 1975). A rise in temperature and pH from 20⁰C to 25°C and 7.5 to 8.5 respectively gives the fifteen-fold increase in the amount of unionized ammonia.

Introduction

In fish culture, anesthetic agents are commonly used in vaccination, labeling, and various measurements (Gomes et al, 2006; Collymore et al, 2014). But no agents have been able to obtain long-duration anesthesia in fishes. The use of conventional anesthetic agents in fisheries is not beneficial in terms of environmental safety as the discarded solutions directly reach oceans and rivers. The use of anesthetic agents presenting a risk of staying in the tissues of cultivated fish has been warned against. For example, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries caution against the use of anesthetic agents within 7 days before fishes and shellfishes are caught.

The use of anaesthetics has gained considerable importance in Fishery Science particularly during spawning (Colesante, 1977; Kidd and Banks, 1990) and transportation of live fishes or their early developmental stages (Maheshwari 1990; Jhingran, 1991; Pandit and Ghosh, 2012). This is because handling causes stress and physical damage to the fish, loss of mucilaginous covering, which in turn makes the fish susceptible to attack by bacteria and fungi (Brown, 1987). The anaesthetics are soothing medicines that reduce the metabolism and control the excitability as well as stress in a fish. Recently, Kugino et al, (2016) investigated whether the addition of nano oxygen-carrying bubbles to water at the same time as dissolved carbon-dioxide could result in safe, long-duration fish anesthesia.

Introduction

Oxygen uptake in fishes is affected not only by the abiotic factors of the environment but is also affected due to various biotic factors. Works on fish aggregation reveal that oxygen uptake of a fish is changed by the number of fishes mutually participating in respiration which has been demonstrated by various workers. The variation in oxygen uptake when fishes of either similar or different genera or species are kept in an association is known as the group effect. The variation in oxygen uptake due to the group effect is an established fact.

The investigation and approaches of Allee (1931); Schtefanesku (1958); Malyukina et al, (1962); Grigor’eva (1966); Umezawa and Watannbe (1979), Wares II and Igram (1979), Umezawa et al, (1981) Imabayshi and Takahashi (1987), etc. are worth mentioning and regarded as milestones in this field. Allee (1931), Shlaifer (1938); Geyer and Mann (1939), Job (1955); Delco (1963); Uematsu (1971); Parker (1973), Itazawa et al, (1978); Smatresk and Herreid (1980); Kanda and Itazawa (1981); Singh and Munshi (1985) and Jha (1995) have observed that grouping lowers down the oxygen uptake of fishes but the reverse relationship was also reported by Bowen (1932); Schuett (1934), Brett and Sutherland (1965), Umezawa and Kanikawa (1980), Ghosh et al, (1994), Krause and Ruxton (2002), Pandit and Ghosh (2007), Ward and Webster (2016). In due course, different aspects of grouping have been studied by various workers and many terms are proposed accordingly to explain the phenomenon.

Introduction

Oxygen uptake of fish(s) displays its basal metabolic status and is taken into consideration as one of the signs of the overall fitness or/and well-being of the fish. It can also be beneficial to evaluate the physiological state of a living organism, facilitates in comparing the susceptibility or resistance potentiality and additionally beneficial to correlate the behaviour of the animal, which ultimately serve as predictors of functional disruptions of population. Analysis of Oxygen uptake machine to assess the primary harm or demand inflicted at the animal that can both boom or lower the oxygen uptake (Neelima et al, 2016).

The maximum vital single issue in transporting fish is imparting an adequate level of dissolved oxygen. Heavier fish transported in warmer water want more oxygen. For instance, if the water will increase by temperature 10°C (e.g., from 10 to 20°C), Oxygen uptake is roughly doubled.

Respiration of air-breathing fishes has fascinated researchers for a minimum of a century; the earliest attempts to measure oxygen uptake (V? O₂) and respiratory partitioning date to the 19th century (Baumert, 1853). The available general respirometry methods have been explained and reviewed by numerous authors (Cech, 1990; Lighton, 2008; Lefevre et al, 2016; Zhang et al, 2019), and researches of the respiration of air-breathing fishes had been reviewed in element within side the iconic book by Graham (1997). Air-breathing fish are generally characterized by a significant reduction in gill surface area with a purpose to keep away loss of oxygen taken up in the air-breathing organ (ABO) at the site of the gills in hypoxic water (Scott et al, 2017; Pelster et al, 2020).

India is facing with the issue of food production, especially the production of protein resources. The food production rate in India is insufficient to cope up with an alarmingly growing population. Protein deficiency is currently the most serious human malnutritional problem, with protein deficiency affecting about 30% of the world’s population. To cope up with the current situation, there is therefore a need for an all-out effort to increase food production especially the production of animal protein. Pisciculture has acquired primary importance in this context, and the culture of Indian major carps and their allies is now a common practice. For a long time, the culture of air-breathing fishes in the derelict water has remained neglected. Many such fishes, however, have become popular in the recent past, being rich in their food value.

The demand for fish as nutritious food is increasing day by day, as it is a good source of high quality-protein and lipid and is more palatable than vegetables. It is relished for its characteristic flavour due to high myofibrillar and low stroma protein, rich in essential amino acids particularly lysine and arginine (Kinsella, 1986). Fish proteins play a beneficial role in lipid and cholesterol metabolism by reducing triacylglycerol (=triglyceride) and phospholipid levels in plasma (Tsukuda and Arai, 1986). These proteins occupy an important place in human nutrition due to their high digestibility and growth-promoting value. Fish lipid has a high amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUSFAS), which reduce plasma cholesterol, and this helps in ischemic heart disease and arteriosclerosis (Kinsella, 1986).

Inland fisheries are important global contributors to food security, livelihoods, and ecosystem services. A report on the global snapshot of expert-perceived impacts of COVID-19 on inland fisheries has been submitted by Stokesa et al, (2020). They studied an online survey to determine perceptions of Inland fisheries pressures between June and July 2020. They also analysed pandemic impacts on inland fisheries, based on the responses analyzed against fish capture and human development index data.

Socio-economic impact assessment is an important activity that justifies the implementation and continuation of the project efforts and to enhance the observed ability of the project outcomes. there are several approaches available for assessment of the impact of project interventions. in the present investigation, before or after research design was used for impact assessment.

Socio-economic impact assessment activity, the benchmark survey boss carried out before the initiation of the project. The benchmark survey focused on the socio-economic profile of tribal households in the project area including the landholding, personal profile of the household head, household income, its sources, income source diversity. The survey also focused on the agronomical aspects like the productivity of major crops, cropping intensity and income generation from various farm activities. Further, in the benchmark survey, data was also collected on the aspects related to household food security. The findings of the benchmark survey are presented below.