20th Livestock Census-2019: All India Report

FOCUS

First conducted in 1919, the government of India’s Livestock Census is the main source of data on livestock rearing in the country, which is among the most important economic activities for households in rural areas and contributes significantly to the national economy.

This 20th edition was published on October 16, 2019. It was carried out between October 1, 2018, and September 20, 2019, across 6.6 lakh villages and 89,062 urban wards. It covered over 26.5 crore households and 0.42 crore ‘non-households’ such as farmhouses and cooperative societies. The survey did not cover some villages and urban wards in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Delhi.

The Census contains information on the age and sex composition of cattle, buffaloes, yaks, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, ponies, mules, donkeys, camels, dogs, rabbit and elephants. It also enumerated poultry birds such as fowl, ducks, emus and turkeys.

The Census – the last of which came out in 2012 – was carried out by various state departments, with grants from the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The survey data can help create schemes aimed at disease control in animals and ensure protection against livestock loss.

The 119-page report has two parts: an introduction (Chapter 1) and the survey’s key results (Chapter 2).

    FACTOIDS

  1. The total livestock population of the country currently stands at 536.76 million and has increased by 4.8 per cent since the 2012 Census. About 514.11 million livestock (95.78 per cent of the total population) were found in rural areas and 22.65 million (4.22 per cent) were found in urban areas.

  2. The largest livestock population was recorded in the state of Uttar Pradesh (68 million), followed by Rajasthan (56.8 million) and Madhya Pradesh (40.6 million).

  3. The total bovine population – comprising of cattle, buffaloes, mithuns, and yaks – was 303.76 million in 2019, marking a 1.3 per cent increase since 2012. The total number of cattle in the country also increased by 1.3 per cent in this period.

  4. The cow population was 145.91 million in 2019, increasing by 18.6 per cent since the previous Census.

  5. There was a decline of six per cent in the total indigenous cattle population during 2012-19, although the rate of decline was lesser compared to the nine per cent drop seen during 2007-12.

  6. The number of milch animals among cows and buffaloes was 125.75 million in 2019, increasing by six per cent since the 2012 Census.

  7. The sheep population in the country was 74.26 million in 2019, up 14.1 per cent since the 2012 Census. The goat population also increased by 10.1 per cent to 148.88 million in 2019.

  8. About 9.06 million pigs were recorded in the 2019 Census, contributing to about 1.7 per cent of the livestock population. The number of pigs declined by 12.03 per cent since 2012.

  9. India’s mithun population was 3.9 lakhs in 2019, increasing by 29.5 per cent over the 2012 Census. The yak population declined by 24.9 per cent in this period to 58,000 in 2019.

  10. There were 3.4 lakh horses and ponies in India in 2019, down 45.2 per cent since the previous Census. The population of mules and donkeys also decreased by 57.1 per cent and 61.2 per cent since 2012. 

  11. There were 2.5 lakh camels in India in 2019, down 37.1 per cent since 2012. The highest number of camels was recorded in Rajasthan (2.13 lakh), followed by Gujarat (0.28 lakh) and Haryana (0.05 lakh).

  12. The country’s poultry population increased by 16.8 per cent since the 2012 Census to 851.81 million in 2019. ‘Backyard poultry’ made up 317.07 million of the total, while commercial poultry accounted for 534.74 million.


    Focus and Factoids by Parijat Lal.

AUTHOR

Animal Husbandry Statistics Division, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India, New Delhi 

COPYRIGHT

Animal Husbandry Statistics Division, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India, New Delhi 

PUBLICATION DATE

16 Oct, 2019

TAGS

#dairying #animal-husbandry #livestock-population #poultry #cattle #livestock #census

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