Economically Important Animals

Economically important animals are animals that directly or indirectly affect human welfare, agriculture, food production, storage, public health, and trade. For FCI AG-III Technical, this topic must be studied with two lenses:

1. Useful animals - livestock, poultry, fish, honey bees, silkworm, lac insect, earthworm.
2. Harmful animals - rodents, stored-grain insects, mites, parasites, and contamination-causing animals.

FCI's work revolves around procurement, storage, quality protection, and safe distribution of food grains. So the most important animal groups for this chapter are stored-grain insects and rodents, followed by beneficial animals connected with agriculture and food systems.

---

Classification by Economic Role

Economic role	Important animals	Main value or damage
Milk production	Cow, buffalo, goat	Milk, manure, livelihood
Meat and egg production	Poultry, goat, sheep, pig, fish	Protein food
Fisheries	Rohu, catla, mrigal, prawn	Food, employment, aquaculture
Pollination and honey	Honey bee	Honey, wax, crop pollination
Silk	Silkworm	Silk fibre
Lac	Lac insect	Resin, shellac, polish, coating
Soil improvement	Earthworm	Vermicompost, soil aeration
Grain loss	Weevils, beetles, moths	Direct feeding and contamination
Grain contamination	Rats, mice, birds	Feeding, droppings, gnawing, spillage
Disease/parasitism	Mosquito, housefly, tapeworm, roundworm	Public health and hygiene concern

---

Livestock Animals

Livestock are domesticated animals maintained for milk, meat, fibre, draught, manure, and livelihood support. They are not direct storage pests, but animal husbandry is part of agricultural economy and can appear in general technical questions.