Demographic Distribution and Livestock Population

On the basis of rainfall, temperature and soil type which influence the quality of livestock, the country can be divided into five animal husbandry regions.

Five animal husbandry regions:

o Temperate Himalayan region

o Dry northern region

o Northeastern region

o Southern region

o Coastal region

Temperate Himalayan region:

It comprises of the mountainous areas of Assam, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. In this region the rain fall is high and there are snow and frost during winter. 

• The livestock are mainly raised on pastures and the animals are moved to high altitude and to the foothills depending upon the season. 
• Cattle are non-descript and are low in productivity.  Sheep and goat are the principal domestic animals and wool is the main source of income.

Dry northern region:

• It comprises the plains of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and part of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. 
• Dry atmosphere is very ideal for the development of livestock. The home tract of most of the important breeds of buffalo such as Murrah, Nili Ravi, Surti and Jaffarabadi breeds lies in this region. Cattle breeds such as Haryana, Malvi, Kankrej, Tharparkar, and Gir are present in this region.
• The famous milch breeds such as Sahiwal, Red Sindhi had their home tract in this region. Sheep breeds of this region gives mutton and carpet wool. 
• Camel is found exclusively in this region. Horses and donkey found in this region are of good quality. 
• Wheat straw is found in abundance and cultivation of fodder crop is commonly found in this region. Hence livestock in this region are well fed and produce more than that of other regions.

Northeastern region:

• It comprises plains of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, eastern U.P and part of Assam and northeastern states. 
• The rainfall is above 125 cm. Rice is the main cereal crop and it is the staple food for animals of the region. 
• The cattle and buffalo of this region are of poor quality and are non- descript and less productive. 
• Few varieties of sheep and goat are reared for meat purpose. Pigs are important farm animal in this region.

Southern region:

• It comprises of parts of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka States. Rainfall is generally low, and atmosphere is generally humid. 
• Most of the land is under millets cultivation and it also provides dry fodder to animals. Important draught breeds of cattle like Amrit mahal, Hallikar, Kangayam and Ongole are reared in this region.
• There are many numbers of sheep than any other region in the country and are mainly reared for mutton and skins. 
• The famous Nellore and Bannur breeds of mutton sheep belong to this region. This is the main sheep tract in the country.

Coastal region:

• It comprises coastal belts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, bordering eastern and Western Ghats. This is a high humid heavy rainfall area; the annual precipitation exceeds 500 cm at many places. 
• Buffaloes are important in east coast and crossbred cattle among west coasts. Goats and pigs are also important.

Livestock Population in India:

• The geographic area of our country is 32,87,263 sq.km. 
• The human population in 2001 is 1027.02 million, of which rural population constitutes 72.22 % and the urban 27.78 %. 
• The average population density of the country is 304 people per sq.km.  In 2003-04, the production of milk in the country was 88.1 million tons of egg 34 billion tons. of wool 53 million kgs. 
• The country has a forest cover of 6,75,538 sq.km. 
• As per the last 17th livestock census, crossbred cattle constitute 13.3% of the total cattle and 86.7% are indigenous cattle. 
• There is a tremendous increase in the crossbred cattle in the country i.e., 22.8% but the indigenous cattle declined by 10.2% during the inter censual period from 1997 to 2003. 
• The total cattle population has decreased by 6.9% during the period.
• The buffalo population has increased by 8.9%; sheep, goat and pig population has increased by 6.9%, 1.33% and 1.72% respectively.

As per 18 th livestock census (2007), in India there are 199.08 million cattle, 105.34 million buffaloes, 71.56 million sheep, 140.54 million goats, 11.13 million pigs and 648.88 million poultry are available.