Climate Change and Livestock Production

Time is not measured by the passing of years but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves.

- ■DR. BANARSI LAL

Livestock production is an essential component of world agriculture, contributing to food security, nutrition, poverty eradication and economic growth. About 30 per cent of the Earth's terrestrial areas are occupied with livestock systems, sustaining the livelihood of small and marginal farmers.

Livestock is a significant sector of the Indian economy. This sector provides livelihood support to the rural population. This sector provides necessary proteins and nutritious diet to the human beings through milk, meat, eggs etc. Livestock also provides raw material such as skin, blood, bone etc. This sector contributes about 12.9 per cent of global calories and 27.9 per cent of proteins and also contributes in the crop production through manure, ploughing and transport. The livestock sector employs at least 1.3 billion people across the globe and supports the livelihoods of about 600 million small farmers in the developing countries. Climate change has a global occurrence with the negative impacts.