Enhancing the productivity of agriculture and in particular, livestock, is an effective way of empowering the tribal masses and securing their livelihood. This study analyses the impact of the adoption of cross-bred livestock technology on the various facets of tribal livelihood. The results reveal that the domestication of livestock accounts for a large share of the family income in tribal areas; cross-bred livestock are more productive and these have improved the income level of tribal households significantly; and the livelihood indicators were very prominent at the livestock farms of adopters and even the capital stock generated at their farms was more than that for nonadopters. The regression estimates confirm that the adoption of livestock technology contributes significantly to improving farm income. Moreover, there is an apprehension that demand-driven growth may not benefit poor livestock keepers much because they are illiterate; their production is small-scale and landholdings meagre; they lack access to credit, location-specific technology and markets for their produce; and they are unable to comply with food safety standards, which are becoming stringent across the tribal regions of the Kashmir valley.
