20th Livestock Census-2019: All India Report

First conducted in 1919, the government of India’s Livestock Census is the main source of data on livestock rearing in the country, which is among the most important economic activities for households in rural areas and contributes significantly to the national economy.This 20th edition was published on October 16, 2019. It was carried out between October 1, 2018, and September 20, 2019, across 6.6 lakh villages and 89,062 urban wards. It covered over 26.5 crore households and 0.42 crore ‘non-households’ such as farmhouses and cooperative societies. The survey did not cover some villages and urban wards in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Delhi.The Census contains information on the age and sex composition of cattle, buffaloes, yaks, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, ponies, mules, donkeys, camels, dogs, rabbit and elephants. It also enumerated poultry birds such as fowl, ducks, emus and turkeys.The Census – the last of which came out in 2012 – was carried out by various state departments, with grants from the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The survey data can help create schemes aimed at disease control in animals and ensure protection against livestock loss.The 119-page report has two parts: an introduction (Chapter 1) and the survey’s key results (Chapter 2).