Feasibility of Livestock Rearing among Tribals of Wayanad, Kozhikode and Kannur Districts of Kerala

The aim of this study is know the feasibility of livestock rearing practice among tribals of Wayanad, Kozhikode and Kannur districts of Kerala. The tribals living in Wayanad, Khozikode and Kannur districts of Kerala were taken in the study as these districts has highest number of tribal population. The results from the study found that half of the respondents from all the three districts were found literate and regarding livestock possession majority of respondents from Wayanad had more number of cattle whereas from Kozhikode and Kannur had more number of goats. Further regarding the feasibility of livestock rearing practice in Wayanad Veterinary hospital, Milk society, Tribal Extension Office, School and Club were all present within 2.5 km radius whereas in Kozhikode Government Homeo-Hospital, Tribal and Cooperative society were situated within the radius of 1 km and in Kannur within the geographical area of 5 Km they have School and Tribal development office, but they don’t have any facilities like Veterinary hospital and Milk society. It is concluded from the study that almost all the tribal families were interested in agriculture and livestock rearing related activities and also they have veterinary facilities within 3-10 km radius. The predominance of forests and grasslands is congenial for livestock rearing, but most of these tribal families still depended on leased livestock; thus if livestock is provided to the family it would help them in better income generation, also commercial poultry rearing as a subsidiary occupation has scope for increasing the farm income of these tribals.


INTRODUCTION
Tribes according to the Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1911, are defined as a "collection of families bearing a common name, speaking a common dialect, occupying or professing to occupy a common territory and is not usually endogamous though originally it might have been so". India has the second largest tribal population of the world next to the African countries. The tribal population of the country as per 2011 census is 10.43crore, constituting 8.6% of the total population, 89.97% of them live in rural areas and 10.03% in urban areas.
The decadal population growth of the tribal"s from Census 2001 to 2011 has been 23.66% against the 17.69% of the entire population (GOI, 2013). Tribals in Kerala (known in Malayalam as the Adivasis) are the tribal population found in the Indian state of Kerala. Most of the tribals of Kerala live in the forests and mountains of Western Ghats, bordering Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
According to the 2011 Census of India, the Scheduled Tribe population in Kerala is 4,84,839 (1.5% of the total population). Wayanad district has the highest number of tribals (1,51,443) in Kerala, followed by Idukki (55,815), Palakkad (48,972), Kasaragod (48,857) and Kannur districts (41,371). Paniyan, Irula, Kattunaikan and Adiyan are some of the major "communities" among Kerala tribals (GOK, 2020 Livestock sector plays an important role in socio-economic development of rural households in India. The contribution of livestock and fisheries to the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in India, is 4.1 and 0.8 per cent respectively (Islam, et al., 2016). Livestock rearing supplements family income and generates gainful employment in the rural sector, particularly among the landless laborers, small and marginal farmers and women.
Several empirical studies have supported the claim, that livestock rearing has significant positive impact on equity in terms of income, employment and poverty reduction in rural areas (Singh & Hazell, 1993;Thornton et al., 2002;& Birthal & Ali, 2005). The estimate of employment in this sector was 11.44 million in principal status and 11.01 million in subsidiary status, which is 5.5 per cent of the total working population of the country (NSSO, 2005) and over 70 per cent of the rural households depend on livestock for income (Chawla et al., 2005). Livestock are the best insurance against the vagaries of nature like drought, famine and other natural calamities.
This study intends to explore the feasibility of livestock rearing among Tribes in Kerala.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
An ex-post-facto research design was adopted for the study. The tribals living in Wayanad, Khozikode and Kannur districts of Kerala were taken in the study as these districts has highest number of tribal population. A structured interview schedule was prepared under expert guidance and data collection was done through using purposive sampling technique.
The socio economic data is presented in a comprehensive table such that a comparison is possible between the samples. Further the feasibility of livestock rearing will be discussed for individual samples (Wayanad, Kozhikode and Kannur). The collected data were analyzed using statistical tools viz. frequency and percentage.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Socio economic profile of tribes of Wayanad, Kozhikode and Kannur districts
The socio economic profile of tribes of Wayanad, Kozhikode and Kannur districts of Kerala are given in the table 1. The result from the table revealed that majority of the respondents from Wayanad district belonged to the age group of above 50 years, whereas the majority in Kozhikode and Kannur districts were belong to below 40 years of age. With respect to gender, majority of the respondents were found males in all the three districts and regarding caste all the respondents from Kozhikode and Kannur belonged to the Paniya tribe.
It is evident from the table 1 that regarding family size, largest family size was noticed in Wayanad and least was noticed in Kannur. About literacy status around half the respondents in all three districts was found literate. Regarding family income respondents from Wayanad were observed to be from higher income group, whereas the respondents from Kannur had found lower monthly income.
Glance at the (1-2.5km approx), Government veterinary hospital (2-3.5km approx) Paniyas and Kurumas are the major tribes resettled in Pookot area. There are around 512 tribal families settled in 2259 acres of land. They have an average relationship with the society and most of them are a member of the SHG "Oorukoottom". Most of the tribals here live in thatched roofed huts and lower made up of plastic sheet. Within a geographical limit of 5 Km, there is a Bank, School, Veterinary Hospital, Milk society and Agricultural Office.
From the study it was seen that, the Tribal families in these areas occupy an average of 2-5 acres of land which has been distributed to them by the Government of Kerala a part of the TRDM (Tribal Rehabilitation Development Mission) project. Unfortunately this land is not used by all for their livelihood, many still work as agricultural daily wage laborers in Coffee and Tea Plantation, where most of them are exploited by the land lords and are not given proper remuneration for the work done.
It was also observed that this land distributed by the Government is very suitable for cultivation and Animal Husbandry related activities, an added advantage being the close proximity of the area to the college of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pookot. Majority of the tribals in this area were into cattle rearing activities, but these cattle were taken on lease from other member of the society. It was also seen that a few families were using their lands to cultivate Coffee, Ginger and Pepper these lands were irrigated by the Pookot Lake. Most of the families depended on open well and pipe line for drinking water.

Services : Government Veterinary
Hospital (6-7 km approx) One of the major migrant tribals areas in Kozhikode is Vattachira Collective farm. It was seen that the existing tribal families have got 5 acres of contour land while the migrant families have got a 1 acre of contour land. These tribals seem to have a good relationship with those around them and are member of SHG named "Oorukoottam". Most of them are living in concrete houses built by NGO funded by Kerala Government. Within the limit of 5 Km, there is an Agricultural Office, Milk society, Veterinary Hospital and Club. They are also getting some help from an NGO named COD (Centre for Overall Development, Thamarassery).
Major cultivation in this area is Rubber, Coconut, Areca nut and Cashew. From pilot study it was also seen that this land is irrigated by a stream and has the added advantage of being close to canal. The people of the area depend on pipe line water and Jalanidhi project for drinking water.
Most of the families here have cattle, goat and poultry. But their livestock are leased and have to be returned back after the first delivery wherein they get to keep the young one. On interacting it was noticed that tribals of this area are daily wage laborers and are employed outside this area. Most of the families showed interest to get into livestock rearing and other allied scheme.

Kannur: Aaralam
Aaralam farm is the major migrant Tribal area in Kannur. Before the resettlement this land was in the hands of Collective farm society. Most of the members are resettled from various places of Kannur District and belong to tribal groups like Paniyas, Muthuvas and Kattunayakka. 2874 families are resettled in 2874 acres of land in Aaralam.

Feasibility of livestock rearing in Kannur 1. Availability of Fundamental Facilities:
Within the geographical area of 5 Km they have School and Tribal development office. But they don"t have any facilities like Veterinary hospital and Milk society. 2. Information Sources: Neighbors 3. Services : Veterinary Hospital Peravoor (10 km approx.) The tribals in this area had an average relationship with the society and belong to a SHG called Ooorukoottom. Most of them live in houses made of plastic sheets and thatched roofs. Transportation in this area is also bad. There is a school within 5 Km radius; the tribal development office is also situated inside the farm. There are no facilities like veterinary hospital, milk society, agricultural office or any NGO"s; only one club is seen near the farm.
It was seen that each of the tribal family were given an acre of land under TRDM Project. Based on its location with a flowing stream and pond, this land seemed very suitable for agricultural activities. The land is presently used for cultivation of coconut, areca nut, cashew and rubber. But most of tribal"s in this area were daily wage laborers and were employed outside for job. The drinking water facility of this area is the Municipal pipe line. The tribal"s were into rearing of livestock like cattle, goat and poultry but most of these animals were taken it on lease from outside. These tribal"s showed lot of interest in livestock rearing and allied activities requested the help of Government for the same.