Livestock

            It is estimated that 32 lakh out of the total number of 55 lakh households in Kerala are engaged in livestock rearing for supplementing their income.

Livestock Population of All India and Kerala
.	1987		.	.1992	.1996	.	.
Species	India	Kerala	% share of Kerala	India	Kerala	%share of Kerala	% increase over the previous Census (Kerala)
Cattle	1958.70	34.24	1.75	2045.16	33.96	1.61	0.8
Buffalo	769.70	3.29	0.43	842.39	1.65	0.20	50.0
Goats	994.10	15.81	1.59	1152.81	18.61	1.61	17.7
Pigs	107.60	1.37	1.27	127.88	1.43	1.12	4.4
Poultry	2583.40	170.92	6.62	2840.25	256.46	9.03	50.0
Ducks	234.90	8.46	3.60	220.86	11.87	5.4	40.0
Source: Livestock Census All India & Livestock Census Kerala.

          Kerala process 33.96 lakh cattle, 1.65 buffaloes, 18.61 lakh goats, 1.43 lakh pigs, 11.87 lakh ducks and 256.46 lakh poultry as per the latest census.

          The per capita availability of milk is 214 gm./day in 1999-2000. The egg production is sufficient to meet only 25% of the internal demand. The State is largely dependent on external sources for maintaining the supply of meat. The supply is around 50gm. per capita per day during 1999-2000.

Requirement and Availability of Livestock products
.	.	Year 2000
.	.	Requirement	Availability*
1.	Milk (in lakh tonnes)	23.73	25.25
2.	Egg (in million nos.)	5063	2054
3.	Meat ('000 tonnes)	304	155.08
Source : Animal Husbandry department *authorised sector only