L. C. SIKKA
31
AVAILABLE SUPPLY OF ANIMAL FOOD
Crop residues (straw and stover of cereals and pulses), grasses and weeds, grazed or collected from
grazing lands, waste lands and cultivated lands, specially grown fodder crops, by-products of the
oil and milling industries, and a certain amount of seeds, comprise the food of our cattle. It is not
possible to formulate an exact estimate of the supplies of each, as the basic data required for this pur-
pose is wanting. Any attempt in this direction must, therefore, naturally be in the nature of a
guess estimate. This must be borne in mind in considering the figures which follow.
Ware [1944] has estimated that the existing supply of animal food consists of 19.53 million tons
of special fodder crops, 67.74 million tons of grasses, 87.2 million tons of straws of food grains, and
3.729 million tons of concentrates (cakes, seeds, bran and pollard). Details have, however, not been
furnished how these estimates were arrived at. It would appear, the estimate for concentrates is
rather low, provided all the available supplies of oil-cakes are made available for the feeding of
livestock, which, of course, is not so at present, as substantial quantities are used as manure. Burn-
[1944] has estimated the production of oil-cakes alone to be three million tons. When to this are
added the quantities of cotton seed, wheat bran, rice bran and pulse husks which can be available for
the feeding of cattle, the total quantity of concentrates must considerably exceed Ware's estimate.
Our estimate of the total quantity of animal food produced (not the quantity that is actually fed
to cattle) in British India, and the nutrients supplied by it, is as follows:
Roughages:
Fodder crops . . . . . . . . . .
Grasses . . . . . . . . . .
Straws
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Total .
Concentrates:
Oil cakes (excluding castor) . . . . . .
Brans . . . . . .
Pulse husks and chuni
.
.
.
.
.
.
Cotton seed
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Total .
Grand Total .
Total production
(dry weight)
in Million tons
19.53
67.74
87.20
174.47
3.00
1.40
1.37
1.40
7.17
181.64
Digestible
protein
in tons
976,000
3,387,000
436,000
4,799,000
961,000
122,000
65,000
157,500
1,305,500
6,104,500
Starch
equivalent
in tons
7,812,000
27,096,000
21,800,000
56,708,000
2,076,000
714,000
709,000
1,078,000
4,577,000
61,285,000
Compared with the total requirements, the available supplies of digestible protein and starch
equivalent are 42.7 per cent and 56.5 per cent respectively.
ADJUSTMENTS RECOMMENDED TO MEET THE DEFICIT
It should be obvious that there cannot be a uniform set of adjustments for the whole of India.
These must vary from area to area in accordance with the requirements of each, and its agricultural
conditions. Furthermore, it is unlikely that each area will prove capable of being made self sufficient,
although like the deficit areas, there are bound to be surplus areas as well. The surplus produce of the
latter should be available for supplementing the produce of the former.
For want of the requisite information, it is not possible to treat the subject on a regional basis.
Only all-India adjustments are, therefore, indicated in what follows. But steps must be taken to
secure the required information for each region and sub-region, and detailed plans prepared on the
basis of such information to secure a regional self-sufficiency as far as possible.
It is well known that the same land cropped with cereals and pulses can support a much larger
population than if devoted to stock keeping. Agriculturally over populated as India is, with its small