ghazi52
THINK TANK: CONSULTANT
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- #421
Livestock is the faster-moving countryside
A final finding receives too little attention: livestock has expanded much faster than crop acreage. Between the livestock censuses of 2006 and 2024, cattle numbers increased by 89 per cent, buffalo by 75 per cent, sheep by 68 per cent and goats by 78 per cent.Taken together, these four major species rose by about 78 per cent. The number of in-milk cows increased by 140 per cent and in-milk buffalo by 111 per cent.
By comparison, between 2010 and 2024 cultivated area grew by 24 per cent, cropped area by 22 per cent and orchard area by 42 per cent. The periods and units are different, so this is not a direct productivity comparison.
It nevertheless suggests that the livestock economy is becoming an increasingly important source of rural resilience, household assets, nutrition and cash income.
Policy still treats livestock as an appendix to crops. Veterinary services, feed markets, breeding, disease surveillance, milk collection and cold chains should move much closer to the centre of agricultural planning.
