Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying releases 20th Livestock Census

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New Delhi : The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, on October 16, 2019, released the 20th Livestock Census report. The Census will prove beneficial not just for policy makers but also for agriculturists, traders, entrepreneurs, dairying industry and masses in general.

The total Livestock population is 535.78 million in the country showing an increase of 4.6% over Livestock Census-2012 while the total Bovine population (Cattle, Buffalo, Mithun and Yak) is 302.79 Million in 2019, an increase of about 1% over the previous census.

The total number of cattle in the country in 2019 is 192.49 million, an increase of 0.8 % over previous Census. The Female Cattle (Cows population) is 145.12 million, an increased of 18 % over the previous census (2012). The Exotic/Crossbred and Indigenous/Non-descript Cattle population in the country is 50.42 million and 142.11 million respectively. The total buffaloes in the country is 109.85 million showing an increase of about 1.0% over previous Census, according to a PIB release.

The total poultry in the country is 851.81 million in 2019 registering an increase of 16.8% in the total poultry. The total birds in the backyard poultry in the country is 317.07 million. The backyard poultry has increased by around 46% as compared to previous Census. The total Commercial Poultry in the country is 534.74 million in 2019, an increase of 4.5% over previous Census.

The Livestock Census has been conducted in the country periodically since 1919-20. The Livestock Census covers all domesticated animals and its headcounts. So far 19 such censuses have been conducted in participation with State Governments and UT Administrations. The 20th Livestock Census was conducted in participation with all States and Union Territories. The enumeration was done both in rural and urban areas.

The major thrust given to 20^th Livestock Census is the collection of data through tablets computers. The 20th livestock census is indeed a unique attempt as for the first time such a major initiative has been take to digitise household level data through online transmission from the field.  National Informatics Centre (NIC) has developed a mobile Application software and it was used for data collection as well as online transmission of data from the field to the NIC server.

In this whole Census operations, the State/UT Governments engaged more than 80,000 field personnel mostly veterinarians and para-veterinarians for the smooth conduct of 20^th Livestock Census. Training was an important component of the Census as for the first time the field staff were required to operate tablet computers for such massive Census Operation. Training was conducted at various levels starting from “All India Training Workshop for Trainers” in Delhi followed by State, District level training.