Livestock in the hilly region forms an integral part of the age-old croplivestock mixed farming system and assumes additional significance as the livelihood options are limited in these areas. Though the livestock population seems to have stabilized during the past three decades or so in Himachal Pradesh, its composition has undergone noticeable changes. These changes have implications on increased demand for the livestock products and issues like draught power availability, ecological pressure, etc. Further, no study seems to have been made on the role of the state in the livestock development from a broader policy perspective. With this background in mind, the present article has examined (a) various spatial and temporal changes in the composition of the livestock population, (b) ecological implications of livestock pressure on the natural resources of the state, and (c) the role of the state, in the livestock development in Himachal Pradesh.
It has been found that the proportion of buffaloes and goats has increased but that of cattle and sheep has declined. Within cattle, the rise in replacement of indigenous animals by the crossbreds during 1990s is another revelation. The decline in the population of local bulls and a perceptible increase in the crossbred bull population, which is not rated very high as a source of draught power, has implications on the natural resources of hills and its agriculture. Further, the findings have revealed that as per cent of the total plan outlay, the share of Animal Husbandry and Dairying Department was much higher during The 1970s than during the 1980s and 1990s. At present around 2/3rd of the outlay is going for the Animal Husbandry component while the remaining 1/3rd is being equally shared by the other two components, viz. Dairying and Animal Husbandry Education. This has resulted in increased milk production in the state alongwith the enhanced output of other livestock products. The regional variations of the livestock output have brought out clearly that livestock is more important in the districts of Kangra, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Chamba, Solan and Mandi as compared to the mainstream agriculture. This has an important implication from the viewpoint of the overall agricultural development in the state in terms of higher attention to livestock development in these low- and mid-hill districts and to horticulture and off-season vegetables in the high-hill districts so as to cash-in on the comparative climatic advantage of the state.
