The department of animal husbandry, Anantapur has initiated a fodder production scheme in which farmers with large land assets of at least 10 acres can raise fodder in their lands and receive a lease payment of Rs 10,000 per acre, and also commission payments of Rs 10,000 per cutting and Rs 30,000 for three cuttings annually, for a total of Rs 40,000 in yearly income.
Farmers should be able to buy fodder grown on their land at a subsidized price. According to official sources, the department would pay a lease sum of Rs 10,000 per acre to farmers who cultivate fodder for farmers on behalf of the government. The initiative is designed to benefit cattle farmers and fodder growers, particularly during the summer season when fodder is limited.
Water and Fodder Scarcity: Real Issues for Cattle Farmers
Water scarcity and fodder scarcity are two demotivating problems for farmers for not taking up cattle rearing. Everyone in the rural areas recommends rearing cows and buffaloes to complement the volatile revenue from agriculture, which is subject to the factors of nature.
NABARD and the state government once encouraged domestic cattle rearing, claiming that growing even a few buffaloes or cows might help farmers in distress overcome their financial difficulties. Owing to a lack of fodder and their inability to cultivate fodder in their fields due to water constraints, many farmers have stopped cattle rearing.
Because they only have two to three acres of land, many small and marginal farmers consider fodder production to be a luxury. When fully implemented, the new system will give much-needed encouragement to farmers. To withstand drought circumstances, agriculture, horticulture, and livestock raising should be the three-pronged strategy for every farmer in Rayalaseema and Anantapur in particular, as per agricultural and integrated cattle farmers.
The step toward sustainability
For agricultural activities to be sustainable, an integrated strategy is required. The dairy industry is in crisis due to its reliance on outside feed supplies. Many people had sold their cattle because they couldn't feed them.
"If the government can ensure fodder availability through its new scheme," Kamalamma, a woman farmer of Kotanki says, "then our family will consider resurrecting our age-old tradition of rearing cattle."
Vijay, an educated farmer from Garladinne, claimed that the state government may instantly adopt the scheme and encourage farmers with ample water sources to cultivate fodder on a commercial scale and sell it to cattle farmers, preventing fodder scarcity. Such entrepreneurs should be given incentives and subsidies by the government. The government might even lease land to such innovative farmers for them to establish fodder production centers that would cater to cattle rearing farmers.
