Effects on Feeds and Housing Management of Livestock During 2014 Floods in Jammu and Kashmir, India

India is one of the most disaster prone countries in the world which is mainly due to its high geo-climatic conditions as well as its higher degree of social vulnerability. There has been an increase in the frequency and intensity of disasters that has posed a threat not only to the people but to livestock as well. The state of Jammu and Kashmir was hit by severe floods in year 2014 which left a great impact on people as well as on the livestock. The present study was purposively carried out in Kashmir Division of Jammu and Kashmir state that was severely hit by devastating floods in September 2014. Among the various flood affected districts of Kashmir Division, the three districts namely Bandipora, Srinagar and Pulwama were purposively selected based on the highest inundation levels reported in these areas. Livestock production system includes the various aspects of livestock rearing ranging from livestock housing, feeding, breeding, health care, marketing of livestock produce. Most of the variables covered under the ambit of livestock production system were studied to have a look into the pre and post flood scenario in the study area. The major findings of the study revealed that more than half of the respondents (50.00%) were having kutcha type of animal houses before floods of 2014 and among the different districts, Bandipora District had the highest cumulative role in the mixed type of animal houses (22 to 47) post floods. With respect to the extent of damaged animal houseshalf of the respondents (50.00%) reported that their animal houses were completely collapsed during floods with the highest percentage reported from Srinagar district. It was also reported that about (49.17%) rebuilt/repaired their animal houses in less than one month. The respondents also complained about the non existence of special type of animal houses in their village where animals could be kept during any natural calamity. The findings revealed that the extent of scarcity of feed and fodder was severe in case of concentrates (50.42%) followed by dry fodderand the scarcity of fresh drinking water was to such an extent that animals drank flood water during that particular period. However the tap water turned out to be the major source of drinking water for animals both pre and post floods with a marginal increase after floods. The results also depicted that about (52.92%) of the respondents houses were not collapsed during the floods of 2014.