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Part II :
Livestock Census
In Maharashtra, more than three-fourth of the agriculture is rain-fed. Moreover uneven distribution of
rainfall across various regions of the state and also with erratic pattern, dairying is gaining importance
as a source of livelihood for the small and marginal farmers of the state.
As per “19
th
Livestock Census-2012”, bovine population in Maharashtra has declined by about 5 per cent
to 2.1 crore as against 2.2 crore in 2007. While crossbreds cattle increased by 19 per cent, local cows and
buffaloes have shown 8-9 per cent decline. However, the indigenous cattle and buffalomilch population
declined by 5-7 per cent between 2007 and 2012, while there has been an impressive growth of
26 percent in crossbred milch animals.
Region-wise, the Marathawada and Vidarbha regions are characterised by frequent droughts, cracked
soils, parched wells, dry hand pumps, low yielding livestock and accordingly, dairying is relegated to
western parts of the state. The perpendicular strip of land in western part comprising of Ahmadnagar,
Nasik, Pune, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and Solapur districts comprises more than one-third of bovine
population of the state, mainly crossbred cows and buffaloes.