NORTH-EASTERN STATES

Budget brings hope to bamboo-rich northeast

Bamboo is essentially a type of grass, but its classification as a tree for 90 years prevented the northeast, which grows 67% of India’s bamboo, from exploiting it commercially unlike China, the only country with richer bamboo genetic resources.

Now Budget 2018 has ignited farm hope for this tree-turned-grass which once fuelled insurgency in the northeastern states. The allocation of ₹1,290 crore for a restructured National Bamboo Mission (NBM) has raised hopes for a range of bamboo-based industries – from food professing to construction.

Bamboo is a wonder, multi-utility grass that more than 300 ethnic groups in the northeast have traditionally been using in every stages of life, from birth to death, besides it being a delicacy. Bamboo’s commercial journey began when it was struck off the list of trees by amending the Indian Forest Act last year.

The Budget provision is one of the best initiatives to promote holistic development of bamboo. But the restructured NBM needs to be more focussed on value-chain management and value-addition of bamboo at community level which will bring more income to the bamboo farmers and bamboo processors.

INTERNATIONAL

· India Slips to 42nd Place On EIU Democracy Index, Norway Tops

India slipped to 42nd place on an annual Global Democracy Index according to the data compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). India has moved down from 32nd place last year.
The top 5 Countries in the list are
Norway,

Iceland,

Sweden,

New Zealand and

Denmark

The index ranks 165 independent states and two territories on the basis of five categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation and political culture.

The list has been divided into four broad categories- full democracy, flawed democracy, the hybrid regime and authoritarian regime.

North Korea is ranked the lowest at 167th, while Syria is a notch better at 166th place.

· India Joins Ashgabat agreement

India joined Ashgabat Agreement on the establishment of an International Transport and Transit Corridor between the Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
The agreement was signed in 2011, which envisages facilitation of transit and transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.
According to the External Affairs Ministry, the accession to the Agreement would diversify India’s connectivity options with Central Asia and have a positive influence on its trade and commercial ties with the region.

NATIONAL

Union Budget 2018: Key takeaways and sector-wise highlights

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley delivered the current government’s fifth and last full financial budget (Budget 2018 for the fiscal year 2018-19) amid subdued economic growth, challenging fiscal situation and farm distress.

Here are the key highlights from the Union Budget 2018:

Economic Health

Economy firmly on course to achieve high growth of 8%
GDP growth at 6.3% in the second quarter of 2017-18 signals turnaround of the economy
Growth in the second half likely to remain between 7.2% to 7.5%

Agriculture and Rural Economy

MSP for all unannounced Kharif crops increased to 150%
Institutional credit for agri-sector increased to Rs.10 lakh crore in 2017-18
Fisheries, aquaculture and animal husbandry corpus at Rs.10,000 crore
New scheme Operation Greens with an outlay of Rs 500 Crore
Govt to develop and upgrade existing 22,000 rural haats
Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund with a corpus of Rs.2000 crore
Allocation for Ministry of Food Processing doubled to Rs.1400 crore
Loans to Self Help Groups (SHG) of women to increase to Rs.75,000 crore by March 2019.
Increased allocation of National Rural Livelihood Mission to Rs 5750 crore
Under Ujjwala Scheme distribution of free LPG connections will be given to 8 crore poor women
Housing for All by 2022 – more than one crore houses to be built by 2019 in rural areas

Education, Health, and Social Protection

Estimated budgetary expenditure on health, education and social protection at Rs.1.38 lakh crore
Ekalavya Model Residential School to be set up for tribal children
Investments for research & infra in premier educational institutions at Rs.1 lakh crore in next 4 years
Allocation on National Social Assistance Programme at Rs. 9975 crore
NHPS to cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries)
NHPS to provide coverage up to 5 lakh rupees per family per year for hospitalisation
Rs 1200 crore for the National Health Policy, 2017 – additional Rs.600 crore for TB patients
24 new Government Medical Colleges and Hospitals

Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) and Employment

Major thrust for Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) – allocation at Rs. 3794 crore
Target of Rs.3 lakh crore for lending under MUDRA Yojana
70 lakh formal jobs to be created this year
Govt to make 12% contribution of new employees in the EPF for all the sectors for 3 years
Outlay of Rs.7148 crore for the textile sector
Increase budgetary allocation on infrastructure for at Rs.5.97 lakh crore
To develop 10 prominent tourist sites into Iconic Tourism destinations
35000 kms road construction in Phase-I at an estimated cost of Rs.5,35,000 crore

Railways

Railways Capital Expenditure pegged at Rs.1,48,528 crore
4000 kilometers of electrified railway network slated for commissioning
Work on Eastern and Western, dedicated freight corridors
Over 3600 km of track renewal targeted in current fiscal
Redevelopment of 600 major railway stations
Mumbai’s local train network to have 90 kilometers of double line tracks at Rs.11,000 crore cost
150 km of additional suburban network planned for Mumbai
Suburban network of 160 km at for Bengaluru metropolis

Air Transport

To expand airport capacity more than five times to handle a billion trips a year
Regional connectivity – 56 unserved airports and 31 unserved helipads to be connected
To establish unified authority for regulating all financial services

Digital Economy

NITI Aayog to initiate a national program to direct efforts in artificial intelligence
Department of Science & Technology to launch Mission on Cyber-Physical Systems
Allocation doubled on Digital India programme to Rs 3073 crore
To set up 5 lakh wifi hotspots to provide net-connectivity to five crore rural citizens
Rs. 10000 crore for creation and augmentation of telecom infrastructure

Defence

Development of two defence industrial production corridors.
Allocation of Rs 2.95 lakh crore to defence sector.

Emoluments

To revise emoluments to Rs.5 lakh for the President
Rs 4 lakhs for the Vice President
Rs.3.5 lakh per month to Governor
Pay for Members of Parliament – law for automatic revision of emoluments every 5 years
150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi- Rs.150 crore for commemoration programme

Fiscal Management

Budget Revised Estimates for Expenditure at Rs.21.57 lakh crore
Revised Fiscal Deficit estimates at 3.5% of GDP
To bring down Central Government’s Debt to GDP ratio to 40%

Jaitley announces ‘world’s largest healthcare programme’

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced two new initiatives under the Ayushman Bharat Programme in the Union Budget 2018.

Under the programme, Mr. Jaitley announced a new flagship National Health Protection Scheme, providing a health insurance cover of ₹5 lakh a family per annum.
The scheme will cover 10 crore vulnerable families, with approximately 50 crore beneficiaries.
Mr. Jaitley also announced the creation of health and wellness centres, which will “bring healthcare closer to home”.
These centres, 1.5 lakh in number, will provide free essential drugs and diagnostic services. A sum of Rs. 1200 crore had been allocated for this.

· Thirty Second Surajkund International Crafts Mela Begins

The 32nd Surajkund International CraftsMela begun in Faridabad, Haryana.
The Mela is organized by the Surajkund Mela Authority and Haryana Tourism in collaboration with Union Ministries of Tourism, Textiles, Culture and External Affairs.

The 17-day cultural extravaganza will see a spectacular showcase of regional and international crafts, handlooms, traditions along with some mouth-watering multi-cuisine food for the visitors.

This year Uttar Pradesh is the theme state and Kyrgyzstan is the Partner Nation.

Animal Husbandry of Nagaland

Nagaland, the smallest hilly state situated at the extreme northeastern end of India, lies between 25° 6′ and 27° 4′ latitude, North of Equator and between the Longitudinal line 93° 20’ E and 95° 15’E.
The state shares its boundary with Assam on the West, Myanmar on the East, Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Assam on the North and Manipur on the South
Rearing livestock mainly as the source of meat is found to be a traditional practice among the Nagas.
In the tribal community livestock is also a form of wealth which often serves as a status symbol and sometimes serves even as dowry in marriages as well as sacrificial offer in religious ceremonies.
These facts clearly establish that livestock development is of crucial importance to Nagaland where agriculture and Animal Husbandry of Nagaland provide the mainstay to about 95% of aggregate population.
The main agricultural activity of farmers in Northeast India (including Nagaland) is the mixed crop-livestock system characterised with low inputs and outputs.
Livestock is an important component of mixed farming system due to preference of meat in the diets of people in the region.
The area is known as meat consuming zone of India.
Livestock, especially pig and poultry, is a key livelihood among the farming rural families and provides food for consumption, sources of income and capital and socio-cultural needs.
All the North-eastern states (including Nagaland) are highly dependent on imports to meet their demand for eggs, fish, meat and milk.
Thus, the pig sector is undoubtedly of major importance for rural livelihoods and poverty alleviation both at household and the state levels.
In a study undertaken by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in 2007, the study revealed that there is an increasing demand for livestock products in the region.
These suggest that livestock rearing has been largely untapped and has the potential to improve the livelihoods among poor farmers in the region.
Twenty eight per cent of total pig population of India is found in the region.
Pig rearing is very promising in the region due to high demand for pig meat within the tribal people of the NE region.
Thus, the pig sector is undoubtedly of major importance for rural livelihoods and poverty alleviation.

Goat Farming of Animal Husbandry of Nagaland

Goat is known as ‘Poor man’s cow’ in India and is a very important component in dry land farming system.
Marginal or undulating lands unsuitable for other types of animals like cow or buffalo, goat is the best alternative.
With very low investments goat rearing can be made in to a profitable venture for small and marginal farmers.

Sheep farming of Animal Husbandry of Nagaland

Few countries in the world have no sheep.
They are found in tropical countries and in the arctic, in hot climates and in the cold, on the desert and in humid areas.
There are over 800 breeds of sheep in the world, in a variety of sizes, shapes, types and colours.
Sheep were domesticated long before the dawn of recorded history.
Wool fibres have been found in remains of primitive villages of Switzerland that date back an estimated 20000 years.
Egyptian sculpture dating 4000-5000 B.C. portrays the importance of this species to people.
Much mention is made in the Bible of flocks, shepherds, sacrificial lambs, and garments made of wool.
The Roman empire prized sheep, anointed them with special oils, and combed their fleece to produce fine quality fibres that were woven into fabric for the togas of the elite.
Perhaps the first ruminants domesticated by man along with goats, sheep are a very valuable and important asset to mankind.
Domesticated sheep : phylum Chordata (backbone), class Mammalia (suckle their young), order Artiodactyla (hooved, even-toed), family Bovidae(ruminants), genus Ovis (domestic and wild sheep), and species Ovisaries

Rabbit Farming of Animal Husbandry of Nagaland

Why Rabbit Farming?

With available small investment and in a small place rabbit farming gives more income
Rabbits eat ordinary feed and convert them into a protein rich high quality meat
Apart from meat production they can also be reared for hide and fur.

Rabbit Farming is for whom?

For landless farmers, uneducated youth and women, rabbit farming gives an additional income as a part time job

Advantages of Rabbit Farming

By rabbit rearing one can produce a quality protein rich meat for his own family
Rabbits can be fed with easily available leaves, waste vegetables, grains available in the home
Growth rate in broiler rabbits is very high. They attain 2 kgs at the age of three months
Litter size (Number of young ones born/ kindling) in rabbits is high (around 8-12)
When compared to the other meats rabbit meat contain high protein (21%) and less fat (8%). So this meat is suitable for all age groups from adults to children

PIG FARMING of Animal Husbandry of Nagaland

Advantages of pig rearing

Pigs convert inedible feeds, forages, certain grain byproducts obtained from mills, meat by products, damaged feeds and garbage into valuable nutritious meat. Most of these feeds are either not edible or not very palatable to human beings
Pig grows fast and is a prolific breeder, farrowing 10 to 12 piglets at a time. It is capable of producing two litters per year under optimal management conditions
The carcass return is quite high ie. 60-80 percent of live body weight
With a small investment on building and equipment, proper feeding and sound disease control programme the farmer can profitably utilize his time and labour in this subsidiary occupation
The faeces of pigs is used as a manure to maintain soil fertility

Pig farming- for whom?

Small and landless farmers
Part time earning for educated youth having agriculture as occupation
Uneducated / Unemployed youth
Farm women

Breeds of Animal Husbandry of Nagaland

The indigenous pig has been the basis used for pig production for a long period of time. It is small in size. Improved breeds are now being used for grading up the form the basis for pig production in the rural areas.

Veterinary & Department of Animal Husbandry of Nagaland Government

Animal Husbandry of Nagaland is a tradition with the Nagas and therefore, rearing of domestic animal such as Cattle, Mithun, Pig and Poultry birds play a significant role in the socio-economic development of the Nagas.

Thus, the great responsibility of Veterinary & A.H. Department lies with matters relating to Livestock and Poultry development, prevention of livestock diseases, Diary Development, Feed & Fodder Development including livestock statistics of the state.
In other words, the Veterinary & A.H. and Dairying sector also provides gainful self-employment opportunities to the ever-increasing Unemployment problems amongst the educated youths of the state to enable them to contribute family income.
This climatic condition of Nagaland is quite suitable for livestock rearing and for which rearing of livestock has been an integral part of Naga life from time immemorial and symbolic to the health and wealth of a Naga family.
The fact may be admitted that out of total Agricultural output value the contribution of livestock sector during 1997 at current prices is accounted for 9.40 percent only of the State Gross Domestic Products (GDP).
In order to accelerate livestock industry during the 10th Five year Plan the focus of the department would be further intensified through appropriate techniques of breeding, feeding, health coverage and production oriented management programme in the coming years