Though the Indian economy has stepped upon the accelerator with its industry tycoons grabbing banner headlines, agriculture remains one of the major revenue and employment generating sector. Livestock is an important branch of the sphere of agriculture. Seventy percent of India’s rural inhabitants earn their livelihood from livestock husbandry and it is the second sex that supervises its smooth functioning. Kerala is no exception.
The Kerala Livestock Development Board Limited, instituted by the Government of Kerala, regulates the infrastructure, growth, trends and prospects of livestock management in the land of sand, sun and coconuts.
This organization, formed in 1976 plays pivotal roles of domesticated bovine animals management, strive towards increased milk and fodder yield and keeping a quality tab on semen by employing the frozen semen technology.
In Kerala, eighty percent of the grangers who deal in livestock farming, operate on a very small scale .
It is a lucrative option for most of them because it couples with the principal agricultural sector, can be practiced from home can incorporates sixty percent of the dynamic village women folk within its fold. Cows predominate husbandry.
The cardinal principles that governs the livestock management in Kerala are:
Strive to foster sound healthy environment.
The most recently conducted Census suggests, Kerala possesses 33.96 lakh cattle, 1.65 buffaloes, 18.61 lakh goats, 1.43 lakh pigs, 11.87 lakh ducks and 256.46 lakh poultry.
| Species | India | Kerala | Percentage share of Kerala | India | Kerala | Percentage share of Kerala | Percentage increase over the previous Census (Kerala) |
| Cattle | 1958.7 | 34.24 | 1.75 | 2045.16 | 33.96 | 1.61 | 0.8 |
| Buffalo | 769.7 | 3.29 | 0.43 | 842.39 | 1.65 | 0.2 | 50 |
| Goats | 994.1 | 15.81 | 1.59 | 1152.81 | 18.61 | 1.61 | 17.7 |
| Pigs | 107.6 | 1.37 | 1.27 | 127.88 | 1.43 | 1.12 | 4.4 |
| Poultry | 2583.4 | 170.92 | 6.62 | 2840.25 | 256.46 | 9.03 | 50 |
| Ducks | 234.9 | 8.46 | 3.6 | 220.86 | 11.87 | 5.4 | 40 |
Courtesy: Livestock Census All India & Livestock Census Kerala.
The demand and supply of egg, milk and meat as stated by the Animal Husbandry Department:
Milk: 23.73 lakh tonnes, 25.25 lakh tones.
Egg : 5063 million tones, 2054 million tones.
Meat: 304 thousand tones, 155.08 thousand tones.
The Kerala Livestock Development Board Limited has pioneered the betterment of this vital sector. The Sire Evaluation Program, the embryo transplant methodology, establishing artificial insemination clinics can be credited to this organization.
The source of sustenance for hundreds and thousands is, however, in speedy slump. A range of reasons have attributed. Dearth of premier quality cost effective fodder, import of poor quality livestock merchandise, epidemics, butchering of animals, among others, have been cited for such a slump.
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