On October 16, 2019, The provisional data of the 20th Livestock Census for 2019 was released by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying which works under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying. It showed that the livestock population increased by 4.6%, from 512.06 million in 2012 livestock census to 535.78 million in 2019.
Key Points:
i. The 20th Livestock Census was launched during the month of October, 2018 and was held in nearly 6.6 lakhs villages and 89 thousand urban wards across the country covering more than 27 Crores of Households and NonHouseholds.
ii. It was a unique attempt to digitise household level data transmitted directly from the field.
Key Statistics taken from the census:
i. The population of cows rose by 18% in the last 7 years, but that of oxen decreased by 30%.
ii. Total Bovine population (Cattle, Buffalo, Mithun and Yak) is 302.79 Million in 2019 (1.0% increase) and the total number of cattle is 192.49 million in 2019 (0.8 % increase).
iii. The total poultry in the country is 851.81 million in 2019, registered an increase of 16.8% in the total poultry.
iv. The total birds in the backyard poultry is 317.07 million (46% increase).
v. Nearly 75% of total cattle in the country are female (cows).
Statistics on states:
i. Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of livestock of 67.8 million, followed by Rajasthan 56.8 million, Madhya Pradesh: 40.6 million and West Bengal: 37.4 million .
ii. Tamil Nadu has the highest number of poultry population with 120.8 million, followed by Andhra Pradesh (107.9 million), Telangana (80 million) and West Bengal (77.3 million).
About Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying:
♦ Minister Incharge: Giriraj Singh
♦ Constituency: Begusarai, Bihar