Stating this at the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his ministry, Shri Sharad Pawar, Minister of Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution informed the members that a Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely National Project for Cattle and Buffalo Breeding (NPCBB) is in operation since 2000 for breed improvement of both indigenous cattle and buffaloes under which Rs 601.82 crore has already been disbursed to these States upto 2009-10.

Shri Pawar said, genetic improvement in bovines is a long term activity. The Minister said, 28 States and one Union Territory are participating in the Scheme. The project has significantly contributed to the expansion and improvement in the bovine breeding infrastructure throughout the country.

Referring to development and conservation of indigenous bovine breeds, Shri Pawar said that several programmes, assisted under NPCBB, have been initiated by the participating States in order to improve the quality of indigenous animals in their breeding tract. He further said that continuing support to the States for further carrying forward genetic upgradation programme is essential at a time when demand for the milk is steadily increasing. Stressing on the need to further consolidate and improve the breeding infrastructure created under NPCBB, the Minister said, scientific programmes like Embryo Transfer Technology (ETT), Multi Ovulation Embryo Transfer Technology (MOET) and Marker Assisted Selection must be implemented with greater vigour and focus.

The Minister said that the next to the crop production, animal husbandry is the most important activity in rural India. The contribution of livestock sector to GDP during 2008-2009 was 5.26%. About 70 million rural households own livestock of one kind or the other and 60 million among them own cattle and/or buffaloes. Almost two third of these families are small and marginal farmers and landless agricultural labourers, each owning to three bovines on an average.

The value of output from milk is higher than the value of output from the paddy alone and is also higher than the value of output from wheat and sugarcane put together. The sector can grow at a much faster rate if the required quality inputs are provided to the farmers, Shri Pawar added.

The Minister of State for Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Prof. K.V Thomas was also present in the meeting. MPs who participated in the meeting included Shri Dhruva Narayana Rangaswamy, Shri M. Krishnaswamy, Shri K.Sugumar, Shri K.P. Dhanapalan, Dr. Pulin Bihari Baske, Shri Gobind Chandra Naskar, Shri Ramesh Rathod of Lok Sabha, Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, Dr. N. Janardhana Reddy, Shri Govindrao Adik, Shri Khekiho Zhimomi, Dr. K.P. Ramalingam and Ms Mabel Rebello of Rajya Sabha and Smt. Santosh Chowdhary, Lok Sabha as permanent special invitee.