Crafting Livestock Production Zones: A Principal Components Approach

A study was carried out to determine the versatility of different districts of Tamil Nadu state of India for milk and meat production, using secondary data collected from various sources. Factor analysis with principal component extraction was carried out to detect the interrelationship among attributes of livestock production. The component of cow milk was the major factor in the state's milk production, compared to buffalo milk. In mutton and chevon production, high Eigen value indicated the possibility of improvement of mutton producton to larger extent. The district-wise potentials for cow and buffalo milk production, mutton and chevon production were worked out based on resources availability in each district and presented.