An Agroecological Analysis of Livestock Wealth in India

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the livestock population dynamics, adoption pattern of livestock and infrastructure facilities across different agroecological regions of India. The results revealed that more than 50 per cent of all livestock species were found in rain-fed areas. In irrigated region, 36 per cent of the livestock population depended upon 15 per cent of the geographical area. The cattle population growth rate declined for all regions because of a faster decline in indigenous cattle in all the agroecological regions. The number of crossbred cattle increased from 26 to 44 million among the cattle population at the India level. It may be due to the acceptance of insemination techniques with the expectation of high milk yield. Whereas, in irrigated region, the situation was very different, with a marginal increase in the share of crossbred cows. The findings indicated that India’s large and uniquely structured livestock sector was growing with compound annual growth of 4.3 per cent. For the sustainable development of the sector, suitable efforts should be taken to improve the genetic potential of indigenous cattle and buffalo and enhance the milk yield of crossbred cows by supportive technical, institutional and policy initiatives