Pattern of Bovine Population and Milk Production in Rural Areas of Bikaner District of Rajasthan

Livestock rearing is one of the most important economic activities in the rural areas providing stable and supplementary income round the year. There are large inter-regional and inter-state variations in milk production as well as per capita availability in India. The total milk production in Rajasthan was 23.68 million tonnes in 2018-19, and ranked second in India. In spite of high livestock population and total milk production in India, per animal average milk production is low. The present study was undertaken with the objective to study growth of livestock population in Rajasthan as well as in Bikaner district, pattern of bovine population and milk production in rural areas of Bikaner district of Rajasthan. The Bikaner district of Rajasthan was selected for the study purposively for having largest cattle population in Rajasthan. Out of eight tehsils in Bikaner district, one tehsil having highest cattle population in each of three distinct types of irrigation conditions was selected purposively. Total 180 farmers were selected from the six selected villages. The selected farmers were categorized into small, medium and large herd-size categories using cumulative square root frequency method. Considering the differences in regional endowments of animal wealth and species, the animals have been converted into SAUs. The secondary data required for estimation of growth rate were collected for the period from 1987-88 to 2018-19. The primary data were collected from the sample farmers for the year 2019-20. Growth in livestock population was estimated using compound growth rates of livestock population for Rajasthan and Bikaner. Total livestock population of Rajasthan during the census’s 1956 to 2019 registered compound growth rate of 5.0 % per census, respectively. The growth rate estimated revealed that cattle and buffalo population of Bikaner had enrolled a growth of 13.0 per cent per census. Size of herd was slightly higher in canal irrigated area and productivity of milk was highest in case of crossbred cows. Keyword: Livestock population, Growth, Milk production, Cattle population, Herd-size categories. Research Article Cite this article: Saran, D., & Sharma, M. (2020). Pattern of Bovine Population and Milk Production in Rural Areas of Bikaner District of Rajasthan, Ind. J. Pure App. Biosci. 8(6), 107-114. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2582-2845.8416 Saran and Sharma Ind. J. Pure App. Biosci. (2020) 8(6), 107-114 ISSN: 2582 – 2845 Copyright © Nov.-Dec., 2020; IJPAB 108 INTRODUCTION Animal husbandry is an integral component of agriculture supporting livelihood of more than two-thirds of the rural population. Livestock rearing is one of the most important economic activities in the rural areas providing stable and supplementary income round the year. Animals provide nutrient-rich food products, draught power, dung as organic manure and domestic fuel, hides & skin, and are a regular source of cash income for rural households. India continues to be the largest producer of milk in the world. Several measures have been initiated by the Government to increase the productivity of livestock, which has resulted in increasing the milk production significantly from the level of 102.6 million tonnes at the end of the tenth plan (2006-07) to 187.75 million tonnes in 2018-19 showing an annual growth of 6.50 per cent per annual. The per capita availability of milk was around 394 grams per day in 2017-18. Projected milk production by 2021-22 is 254.5 million tones as per the vision 2022 document. Nearly 35 per cent of the milk production was contributed by Indigenous Buffaloes followed by 27 per cent by crossbred cattle. The Indigenous cattle contributed 10 per cent of the total milk production in the India whereas non-descript cattle contributed 11 per cent milk production and non-descript buffaloes contributed 14 per cent milk production. (Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Govt. of India, 2019). The milch animals have a significant contribution in the economy of country for the poor people of rainfed agro-ecosystem for their sustainable living because of severe risk involved in the crop production due to uncertainty of rain and drought (Misra & Ramakrishna, 2007). There is great diversity in Indian agro-climatic zones. The agriculture is more severely affected by drought rather than livestock. In the years of drought, crop production can be as low as 10 percent of normal year, in the same situation milk production may still remain same or more than 50 per cent. Thus, the milch animal rearing activity provides source of livelihood and supplementary occupation to majority of farmer living in the drought prone rainfed areas where crop production on its own way not be very productive and engaging them fully or partially (Samra et al., 2006). Rajasthan is considered as ‘Denmark of India’. The livestock population of the state was 567.75 lakh (2012). The total milk production in Rajasthan was 23.68 million tonnes in 201819, and ranked second in India. Animal husbandry is a major economic activity contributing approximately 11.19 percent to the total GSDP of the state in 2018-19. The state is second highest in milk production in the country. Of the total milk produced, 53 per cent is buffalo milk, 36 per cent is cattle milk and 11 per cent is goat milk (https://www.nddb.coop/information/stats). Livestock rearing is one of the most important economic activities in the rural areas providing stable and supplementary income round the year. There are large inter-regional and interstate variations in milk production as well as per capita availability in India. The total milk production in Rajasthan was 23.68 million tonnes in 2018-19, and ranked second in India. In spite of high livestock population and total milk production in India, per animal average milk production is low. The present study was undertaken with the objective to study growth of livestock population in Rajasthan as well as in Bikaner district, pattern of bovine population and milk production in rural areas of Bikaner district of Rajasthan. MATERIALS AND METHODS The Bikaner district of Rajasthan was selected for the study purposively as it was having largest cattle population (table 1). Another reason for selecting the district was that it has higher Indigenous Cattle population, and livestock production in the area is second largest enterprise after crop production. (Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Govt. of Rajasthan, 2019). Saran and Sharma Ind. J. Pure App. Biosci. (2020) 8(6), 107-114 ISSN: 2582 – 2845 Copyright © Nov.-Dec., 2020; IJPAB 109 Table 1: Top six districts of Rajasthan having highest cattle population (Livestock Census 2019) S.No. Districts Total Cattle Population Indigenous Cattle Population 1 Bikaner 1194729 1064552 2 Jodhpur 1069027 980639 3 Barmer 905199 903639 4 Udaipur 831496 751285 5 Bhilwara 705423 565403 6 Jaipur 691457 388894 Bikaner district has three distinct types of agricultural situations in the region viz., canal irrigated, tube well irrigated and unirrigated. Loonkarnasartehsil in Canal Irrigated area was selected having highest number of cattle and a buffalo, likenwise Nokhatehsil was selected in tube well irrigated area and Kolayat tehsil was selected in un-irrigated area. From each tehsil two villages were selected on the basis of the distance from the tehsil headquarter. Two villages from each tehsil were selected out of which one village was selected randomly from the villages within the radius of 25 km of tehsil headquarter and other village was selected randomly from the villages outside the 25 km radius from tehsil headquarter. Therefore, total 180 farmers were selected from the six selected villages. The selected farmers were categorized into small, medium and large herd-size categories using cumulative square root frequency method. Considering the differences in regional endowments of animal wealth and species, the animals have been converted into SAUs using factors suggested by Sirohi et al. (2015) for the west region. Thus, the sample was comprised of 88 small herd size milk producers category (2-7 SAUs), 61 medium herd size (more than 7-12 SAUs) and 31 large herd size milk producers category (more than 12 SAUs). The data collected have been analyzed using different statistical measures and interpreted across herd-size categories of milk producers as well as overall. The primary data were collected from the sample farmers for the year 2019-20. Secondary data relevant for the study were collected from the data published by Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Directorate of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services and the Directorate of Economics and Statistics of Government of Rajasthan. The data collected have been analyzed using different statistical measures and interpreted across herd-size categories of milk producers as well as overall. The compound growth rates of population of livestock population were estimated to study growth of livestock population in Bikaner district as well as Rajasthan as a whole. Growth rate was calculated based on the inter census period data. For the calculation of growth rate, following formulae was employed. Y = ab t ut ... (1) Where, Y = Population of milch animals b= (1+r): where r is compound growth rate t= Time element that takes the value 1, 2, 3.........n ut= Disturbance term in year ‘t’ The eq. (1) was transformed into log linear form and written as; log Y = log a + t log b + Ut ....... (2) Eq. (2) was estimated by using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) technique. Compound annual growth rate (g) was computed as: g = [(Antilog of b) 1] × 100 ....... (3) Saran and Sharma Ind. J. Pure App. Biosci. (2020) 8(6), 107-114 ISSN: 2582 – 2845 Copyright © Nov.-Dec., 2020; IJPAB 110 Where ‘g’ is compound annual growth rate in per cent per annum. Estimation of standard error of growth rate was done and its significance was tested with‘t’ statistic. To study pattern of bovine population and milk production tabular analysis was done using frequencies, percentages and averages was done. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Temporal change in composition of livestock population in Bikaner district The total livestock population composition of different species of livestock animal had changed noticeably during the period from 1956 to 2019, as shown in table 2. The total livestock population was increased from 32426.98 thousand in 1956 to 56775.24 thousand number in 2019. The highest population of livestock was recorded in 2012. An increasing trend in number of total livestock population was observed from 1956 to 2019, except in the years 1987 and 2002. Total bovine population in Bikaner has shown increasing trend in terms of number during the period from 1956 to 2019, and it has increased from 15512.16 thousand in 1956 to 27605.78 thousand in 2019. Table 2: Temporal change and contribution of cattle and buffalo in total livestock population of


INTRODUCTION
Animal husbandry is an integral component of agriculture supporting livelihood of more than two-thirds of the rural population. Livestock rearing is one of the most important economic activities in the rural areas providing stable and supplementary income round the year. Animals provide nutrient-rich food products, draught power, dung as organic manure and domestic fuel, hides & skin, and are a regular source of cash income for rural households. India continues to be the largest producer of milk in the world. Several measures have been initiated by the Government to increase the productivity of livestock, which has resulted in increasing the milk production significantly from the level of 102.6 million tonnes at the end of the tenth plan  to 187.75 million tonnes in  showing an annual growth of 6.50 per cent per annual. The per capita availability of milk was around 394 grams per day in 2017-18. Projected milk production by 2021-22 is 254.5 million tones as per the vision 2022 document. Nearly 35 per cent of the milk production was contributed by Indigenous Buffaloes followed by 27 per cent by crossbred cattle. The Indigenous cattle contributed 10 per cent of the total milk production in the India whereas non-descript cattle contributed 11 per cent milk production and non-descript buffaloes contributed 14 per cent milk production. (Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Govt. of India, 2019). The milch animals have a significant contribution in the economy of country for the poor people of rainfed agro-ecosystem for their sustainable living because of severe risk involved in the crop production due to uncertainty of rain and drought (Misra & Ramakrishna, 2007). There is great diversity in Indian agro-climatic zones. The agriculture is more severely affected by drought rather than livestock. In the years of drought, crop production can be as low as 10 percent of normal year, in the same situation milk production may still remain same or more than 50 per cent. Thus, the milch animal rearing activity provides source of livelihood and supplementary occupation to majority of farmer living in the drought prone rainfed areas where crop production on its own way not be very productive and engaging them fully or partially (Samra et al., 2006). Rajasthan is considered as 'Denmark of India'. The livestock population of the state was 567.75 lakh (2012). The total milk production in Rajasthan was 23.68 million tonnes in 2018-19, and ranked second in India. Animal husbandry is a major economic activity contributing approximately 11.19 percent to the total GSDP of the state in 2018-19. The state is second highest in milk production in the country. Of the total milk produced, 53 per cent is buffalo milk, 36 per cent is cattle milk and 11 per cent is goat milk (https://www.nddb.coop/information/stats). Livestock rearing is one of the most important economic activities in the rural areas providing stable and supplementary income round the year. There are large inter-regional and interstate variations in milk production as well as per capita availability in India. The total milk production in Rajasthan was 23.68 million tonnes in 2018-19, and ranked second in India. In spite of high livestock population and total milk production in India, per animal average milk production is low.
The present study was undertaken with the objective to study growth of livestock population in Rajasthan as well as in Bikaner district, pattern of bovine population and milk production in rural areas of Bikaner district of Rajasthan.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The Bikaner district of Rajasthan was selected for the study purposively as it was having largest cattle population (table 1). Another reason for selecting the district was that it has higher Indigenous Cattle population, and livestock production in the area is second largest enterprise after crop production. (Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Govt. of Rajasthan, 2019). Bikaner district has three distinct types of agricultural situations in the region viz., canal irrigated, tube well irrigated and unirrigated. Loonkarnasartehsil in Canal Irrigated area was selected having highest number of cattle and a buffalo, likenwise Nokhatehsil was selected in tube well irrigated area and Kolayat tehsil was selected in un-irrigated area. From each tehsil two villages were selected on the basis of the distance from the tehsil headquarter. Two villages from each tehsil were selected out of which one village was selected randomly from the villages within the radius of 25 km of tehsil headquarter and other village was selected randomly from the villages outside the 25 km radius from tehsil headquarter. Therefore, total 180 farmers were selected from the six selected villages. The selected farmers were categorized into small, medium and large herd-size categories using cumulative square root frequency method. Considering the differences in regional endowments of animal wealth and species, the animals have been converted into SAUs using factors suggested by Sirohi et al. (2015) for the west region. Thus, the sample was comprised of 88 small herd size milk producers category (2-7 SAUs), 61 medium herd size (more than 7-12 SAUs) and 31 large herd size milk producers category (more than 12 SAUs). The data collected have been analyzed using different statistical measures and interpreted across herd-size categories of milk producers as well as overall. The primary data were collected from the sample farmers for the year 2019-20. Secondary data relevant for the study were collected from the data published by Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Directorate of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services and the Directorate of Economics and Statistics of Government of Rajasthan.
The data collected have been analyzed using different statistical measures and interpreted across herd-size categories of milk producers as well as overall.
The compound growth rates of population of livestock population were estimated to study growth of livestock population in Bikaner district as well as Rajasthan as a whole. Growth rate was calculated based on the inter census period data. For the calculation of growth rate, following formulae was employed. Y = ab t u t … (1) Where, Y = Population of milch animals b= (1+r): where r is compound growth rate t= Time element that takes the value 1, 2, 3………n u t = Disturbance term in year 't' The eq. (1) was transformed into log linear form and written as; log Y = log a + t log b + U t …….
Compound annual growth rate (g) was computed as: g = [(Antilog of b) -1] × 100 .…… (3) Where 'g' is compound annual growth rate in per cent per annum. Estimation of standard error of growth rate was done and its significance was tested with't' statistic.
To study pattern of bovine population and milk production tabular analysis was done using frequencies, percentages and averages was done.  Percent share of bovine population in total livestock population in Rajasthan as well as in Bikaner is given in table 3. It can be seen in table that the percent share of bovine population in Rajasthan was ranging mostly between 40 to 50 per cent. Per cent share of bovine population of Bikaner in over all bovine population of Rajasthan improved from 1.85 % in 1956 to 5.81 % in 2019. There is almost continuous increase in percent share of bovine population of Bikaner district in Rajasthan bovine population year by year as evident from table which shows that bovine population in Bikaner has been increasing faster than Rajasthan as a whole. The bovine population of Bikaner has enrolled a positive growth but at a very high rate as compared to state as a whole i.e. 13.0 per cent per census. This clearly indicates that in Bikaner district livestock rearing is becoming more popular as an important source of farm income.  Table 5shows the herd-size category wise distribution of sample households selected for the study from three tehsils of Bikaner district.

Pattern of population of milch animals and milk production
The proportion of small, medium and large herd size categories in the sample households were 48.89, 33.89 and 17.22 per cent, respectively. Average number of total livestock animals on small, medium and large categories of households has been 6.90, 9.08 and 15.00 units, respectively. Average number of milch animals per household according small, medium and large milch size categories was 4.18, 6.00 and 10.08 SAUs units, respectively.  Table 6 shows tehsil wise per household average herd size of livestock and milch animals in three tehsils representing canal irrigated, tubel well irrigated and rainfed areas. Herd strength and the number of milch animals in the household directly affect the economy of the milk producers. Different types of animals were maintained in various households. On an average, a milk producer household maintained a herd size of 6.73 standard animal units in canal irrigated area (Lunkaransar tehsil) as compared to 5.79 standard animal units in tube well irrigated area (Nokha tehsil) and 4.31 in un-irrigated area (Kolayat tehsil). Size of herd was slightly higher in canal irrigated area, followed by tube well irrigated area and un-irrigated area, respectively, which implied that households in irrigated areas had more number of livestock and milch animals on farm. It can be concluded that the productivity of milk was highest in case of crossbred cows. On the basis of results, it can be inferred that average productivity of milk yield of indigenous and crossbred cows in canal irrigated area (Lunkaransar) was higher as compared to tube well irrigated (Nokha) and unirrigated area (Kolayat). Lunkaransar is also called as Denmark of Rajasthan and where it seems that resource endowments in terms of irrigated land. This leads to better green fodder and feeding of animals right from their birth, quality feed like compound feed (vita feed), proper time of feeding, proper feed management and handling of animals, etc. Thus, it can be concluded that Lunkaransar tehsil milk producers were able to manage their milch animals more efficiently in terms of their milk output for indigenous and crossbred cows. Regarding buffaloes, it can be inferred that average milk yield in Nokha tehsil was significantly higher than that of Lunkaransar and Kolayat tehsil. According to livestock census 2012, number of buffaloes and total milk production of buffaloes was hightest in Nokha tehsil than Lunkaransar and Kolayat. Households of Nokha tehsil rear Murrah breed and milk production of Murrah buffaloes are higher than other breeds of buffaloes.