UNIT-1 (LIVESTOCK BASED LIVELIHOODS AND THEIR

EVOLUTION)

History of domestication and their social dimensions. Evolution and

relationship between agriculture and animal husbandry. Farming and
characteristics of farming in India. Classification of farming, types and
systems. Peasant farming, cooperative farming, collective farming, contract
farming, estate farming, organic farming, capitalistic farming, small-scale
farming, large-scale farming, intensive, extensive farming, specialized,
diversified, mixed, integrated and dry land farming. Role of animals in the
contemporary society.

INTRODUCTION

Domestication is the process of adapting wild plants and animals for human
use. Domestic species are raised for food, work, clothing, medicine, and many
other uses. Domesticated plants and animals must be raised and cared for by
humans. Domesticated species are not wild.

Plant Domestication

People first domesticated plants about 10,000 years ago, between the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia (which includes the modern countries of Iran,
Iraq, Turkey, and Syria). People collected and planted the seeds of wild plants.
They made sure the plants had as much water as they needed to grow, and
planted them in areas with the right amount of sun. Weeks or months later,
when the plants blossomed, people harvested the food crops.

The first domesticated plants in Mesopotamia were wheat, barley, lentils, and
types of peas. People in other parts of the world, including eastern Asia, parts of
Africa, and parts of North and South America, also domesticated plants. Other
plants that were cultivated by early civilizations included rice (in Asia) and
potatoes (in South America).

Plants have not only been domesticated for food. Cotton plants were
domesticated for fiber, which is used in cloth. Some flowers, such as tulips,
were domesticated for ornamental, or decorative, reasons.

Animal Domestication
About the same time they domesticated plants, people in Mesopotamia began
to tame animals for meat, milk, and hides. Hides, or the skins of animals, were
used for clothing, storage, and to build tent shelters.

Goats were probably the first animals to be domesticated, followed closely

by sheep. In Southeast Asia, chickens also were domesticated about 10,000
years ago. Later, people began domesticating larger animals, such as oxen or
horses, for plowing and transportation. These are known as beasts of burden.

Domesticating animals can be difficult work. The easiest animals to domesticate

are herbivores that graze on vegetation, because they are easiest to feed: They
do not need humans to kill other animals to feed them, or to grow special crops.
Cows, for instance, are easily domesticated. Herbivores that eat grains are more
difficult to domesticate than herbivores that graze because grains are valuable
and also need to be domesticated. Chickens are herbivores that eat seeds
and grain.

Some animals domesticated for one purpose no longer serve that purpose. Some
dogs were domesticated to assist people in hunting, for instance. There are
hundreds of domestic dog species today. Many of them are still excellent
hunters, but most are pets.

Throughout history, people have bred domesticated animals to promote certain

traits. Domestic animals are chosen for their ability to breed in captivity and for
their calm temperament. Their ability to resist disease and survive in difficult
climates is also valuable.

Over time, these traits make domestic animals different from their wild
ancestors. Dogs were probably domesticated from gray wolves. Today, dogs are
a distinct species from gray wolves.

Domesticated animals can look very different from their wild ancestors. For
example, early wild chickens weighed about two pounds. But over thousands of
years of domestication, they have been bred to be larger. Larger chickens yield
more meat. Today, domestic chickens weigh as much as 17 pounds. Wild
chickens only hatched a small number of eggs once a year, while domestic
chickens commonly lay 200 or more eggs each year.
 Social dimensions of domestication

Domesticating plants marked a major turning point for humans: the beginning
of an agricultural way of life and more permanent civilizations. Humans no
longer had to wander to hunt animals and gather plants for their food supplies.

Agriculture—the cultivating of domestic plants—allowed fewer people to

provide more food. The stability that came with regular, predictable food
production led to increased population density. People were able to do more
than hunt for each day’s food—they could travel, trade, and communicate. The
world's first villages and cities were built near fields of domesticated plants.

Plant domestication also led to advances in tool production. The earliest farming
tools were hand tools made from stone. People later developed metal farming
tools, and eventually used plows pulled by domesticated animals to work fields.

The process of domestication continues. Cowboys and other horse experts

train horses. Sometimes, this is called "breaking" a horse. Training a horse to
allow a saddle and rider requires an enormous amount of physical work,
training, and patience. Horses that are born on ranches or in stables still need to
be trained, although training a young horse is easier than domesticating a horse
caught in the wild.

Farming

Farming is an activity that involves the use of land for cultivation of

crops, raising of animals etc.

Factors determining type of farming

 There are several factors, which determine the type of farming

undertaken by an individual / organization and these factors are classified
as physical, economic and social as given below.
Factors determining type of farming

 Physical factors
 Climate
 Soil
 Topography
 Economic factors
 Marketing cost
 Changes in relative value of farm products
 Availability of labour and capital
 Land values
 Cycles of over and under production
 Competition between enterprises
 Miscellaneous – Seasonal availability of raw material, diseases etc.
 Social factors
 Type of community
 Cooperative spirit

Classification of farming

 Based on how income is derived from a farming enterprise

 Specialised farming
 Diversified farming
 Mixed farming
 Based on mode of ownership and organization of farms
 Individually owned
 Co-operative farming
 Collective farming
 Based on scale of operations
 Small scale farming
 Large scale farming

SPECIALISED FARMING

 A specialized farm is one in which 50 per cent or more receipts /

income are derived from one source.
Advantages of specialized farming are
 Best suited to particular soil, climate, topography and other physical
conditions like market type.
 Work easily get reduced to routine.
 Better marketing.
 Better management.
 Less equipments and labour needed.
 Efficiency and skill of personnel increased.
 Costly and efficient machinery can be kept.
 Farmer can secure complete mastery over the conditions, problems of
production, processing and sale.
 Under favourable and specific conditions extremely profitable.
 eg. Commercial and large scale dairy and poultry farms

DIVERSIFIED FARMING

 When farming is organized to produce one main product but also has
several other enterprises each of which itself is the direct source of
income, it is called diversified farming.

MIXED FARMING

 According to the 12th National Conference of Agricultural Economists

(1960) a farm where at least 10 per cent of its income is contributed by
livestock is called a mixed farm. The upper limit of gross income to be
contributed by livestock activities was fixed at 49 per cent under Indian
conditions.
 This conference restricted the scope of mixed farming to the livestock
activities, which would largely include milch cattle and buffaloes.
 Any extension of mixed farming by supplementary enterprises like sheep
and goat farming, fishery and poultry were classified under diversified
farming.
 eg. Crop with dairy farming, the most common type of farming in India
 Advantages of mixed / diversified farming are
 Well suited for adoption round the year under Indian conditions.
 Income obtained throughout the year.
 Offers opportunity for better use of land, capital and labour.
 Helps in maintaining soil fertility.
 Reduces the risks due to failure, unfavourable market price etc.
 Income is regular and quick.
 Cost of transportation and sale of by-products can be reduced to
minimum.
 Offers opportunity for complete use of agricultural wastes.
 Provides balanced and protective farming.
 CO-OPERATIVE FARMING

 Co-operative farming is one in which agricultural / livestock producers

co-operate with one another to secure advantages of co-operative buying
of agricultural / livestock inputs and co-operative selling of
agricultural/livestock produce or they may cooperate in order to obtain
credit on easier terms.
Classification of cooperative farming societies are

 Co-operative better farming society: In this kind, independent land

holding members “agree to follow a plan of cultivation / operation” laid
down by the society
 Co-operative tenant farming society: This differs from the above in the
fact that the society (which may hold land on freehold or leasehold)
leases out the plots to members for individual cultivation. Otherwise,
its objectives and spheres of action are the same as that of better farming
society.
 Co-operative joint farming society: In this type, land owners pool their
lands for joint cultivation. The ownership of each member in his holding
continues and is recognized by the payment of dividend in proportion to
the value of his land.

COLLECTIVE FARMING

 In collective farming societies, members do not have an individual land

ownership right in the society’s land.
 The society holds land in free hold or leasehold and undertakes joint
cultivation.
Types of collective farming societies are
 Type I Collective farming societies: It is marked by transfer of land
ownership rights by members in return for shares of equivalent value.
 Type II Collective farming societies: It is marked by transfer of land
ownership rights by members without any consideration.
 Type III Collective farming societies: It is marked by absence of the
transfer of any prior land ownership rights by members, because
members did not possess any ownership rights in society’s land.

 LARGE AND SMALL SCALE FARMING

 There are different means of describing scale of livestock enterprise viz.

depending on how much of the commodity is produced and marketed by
the unit within a time period, number of animals / birds maintained or
area of holding over which the livestock enterprise is based. The
advantages of large-scale production over small-scale production are
called the economies of scale.
 Economies of scale have been classified by Marshall into
 Internal economies and
 External economies.
 Internal economies are those advantages of production, which occur as a
result of decrease in cost of production as the result of expansion of
output. These economies are available to individual firms independent of
other firms. Internal economies are caused by two factors viz.,
 Indivisibilities and
 Specialization.
 Some of the possible external economies are
 Economies of concentration
 Economies of information
 Economies of specialisation or disintegration

COMPARISON BETWEEN SMALL AND LARGE SCALE FARMING

S. Aspects Large Small scale

No scale

1 Division of labour (Specialization) Possible Limited

2 Mechanization Possible Not

possible

3 Quantity of the output More Less

4 Cost of production Low High

5 Cost of management Low High

 6 Risk More Less

7 Marketing facilities Better Poor

8 Economy of buying and selling More Less

9 Possibility of using improved More Less

technology

10 Danger of over production More Less

11 Supervision Poor Better

12 Flexibility Inflexible Flexible

13 Chances of unhealthy competition More Less

CONTRACT FARMING

 In this farming an agreement is made between the farmer and the agency
for the farming starting from production to marketing. Responsibilities
are distributed among both the party in relation to each and every
requirement and function of farming in question. Generally the agency
provides the input support and arranges marketing of the produce whereas
the farmer arranges the land, shelter and labour.
 Poultry production with layers and broilers has extended into contract
farming wherein the poultry farmers agree to provide eggs or chicken of
certain quality and adhere to the management practices indicated by an
agency in return for an assured market.
 The agency is responsible for supply of chicks, vaccinations, and health
care, poultry feed and purchasing the output, chicken or eggs. The
farmers’ responsibility is to provide land, sheds and labour for
maintenance.
 Consequently, the small-scale broiler and layer farms could not withstand
the competition from the large commercial farmers and vanished from the
 scene. As a result poultry production is highly commercialized and the
role of public extension has become limited in this setup.

Peasant farming

It refers to a type of small scale agriculture. Peasant farmers grow crops and
often rear some livestock on a small scale. Some of the produce is used to feed
the family and the surplus is sold.

The farmer and family members provide most of the labour. Most of the land is
used for growing crops. Crop rotation is usually practiced. Peasant farmers
often rear some livestock including chickens, ducks and other small animals.
Farming is done using mostly labour intensive methods and traditional hand
tools. Several irrigation channels or canals are used to supply crops with water.
Manure and compost are used as fertilizers.

Estate Farming

Farming on a large area of land that is owned by a family or an organization and

is often used for growing crops or raising animals.
This extensive commercial system is characterized by the cultivation of a single
cash crop in plantations of estates on a large scale. Because it is a capital
centered system, it is important to be technically advanced and have efficient
methods of cultivation and tools including fertilizers and irrigation and transport
facilities. Examples of this type of farming are the tea plantations in Assam and
West Bengal, the coffee plantations in Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, and
the rubber plantations in Kerala and Maharashtra.

Organic Farming
Organic farming is a method of crop and livestock production that involves
much more than choosing not to use pesticides, fertilizers, genetically modified
organisms, antibiotics and growth hormones.

Organic production is a holistic system designed to optimize the productivity

and fitness of diverse communities within the agro-ecosystem, including soil
organisms, plants, livestock and people. The principal goal of organic
production is to develop enterprises that are sustainable and harmonious with
the environment.