Track 3-6-1: Public‐Private Partnership in Managing Common Property Resources
Description
The Andaman and Nicobar group of Islands form the Southern most tip of the Indian subcontinent, located (6-14° N latitude and 92-94°E longitude) in the South Eastern part of the Bay of Bengal .There are 572 Islands of which only 37 are currently inhabited. The Islands are beautiful and unique. The indigenous plants, animals, livestock, and marine life contribute to uniqueness of these Islands. The total livestock population has increased to many fold from meager 38.6 thousand in 1961 to 154.75 thousand in 2012. The buffalo constitute 5.08 per cent of the livestock of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The buffaloes are of mongrel populations which are inheritance from Murrah, Nagpuri, Bhadawari, Marathwada and nondescript population. They are water buffalo and have very low milk yield. The herd size varies from 4 to 21. The buffalo populations in these groups of islands are recorded to be 7863 as per 2012 livestock census. The milk production from the buffalo is 1.843 thousand tons for the year 2013-14. Standard feeding systems indicate that the feed and fodder available are not sufficient to meet the requirement of the livestock. Severe shortages of both dry and green fodder remain the major concern for production of milk from the present livestock population. It is estimated a shortages of dry and green fodder are 51.80 percent and 99.56 per cent respectively (Kundu et al., 2010). However these Island livestock has adapted themselves to the subsistence type of feeding management for production purposes. Due to non availability of regular and ample fodder for the stall feeding of the livestock, owners resort to letting their animals stray for grazing. The grassland or fallow lands available in the area are being used for grazing for the buffalo. The grass land of Andaman has been developed due to the deforestation of virgin forest and consists of under shurbs, shrubs and trees besides the grasses and forbs, either in the isolation and scattered of in large and small patches with variable density.
Climate of these islands have a tropical, maritime climate. The temperature varies from 21.6°C to 32.5° C, the average annual rainfall is about 3100 mm distributed over 8-9 months with range of relative humidity from 74 to 90 per cent throughout the year. Intense solar radiation is observed between February to April.
Out of 37 inhabitant islands, 12 islands have no livestock whatsoever and another 4 islands have populations of less than 200. The cattle, buffalo and goat are the predominant livestock species in Andaman group of Islands where as pig and goat are the predominant species for Nicobar group of Islands. The growth rate of selected categories of livestock as per the quinquenial census of both 1997 and 2003 showed a positive growth. The milk production was also increased from 23.18 thousand tons in 2000-01 to 26.42 thousand tons in 2003-04 registering a growth rate of 13.97 per cent during the period of four years. However the growth rate of cattle, buffalo, goat and pig has decreased due to loss of livestock during tsunami which struck these islands on 26th December 2004. It also caused extensive damage to the agricultural land specially the flat land suitable to paddy cultivation. Around 8068.71 hectare paddy land was assessed to be damaged by tsunami/earth quake out of 12000 ha flat land suitable for paddy cultivation. This caused severe shortages of paddy straw for feeding the livestock. Both decrease in livestock population and the non availability of straw resulted in reduction of total milk to 23.890 thousand tons in 2007-2008 registering decline of 9.57 per cent over the 2003-04. The populations of livestock remain in decreasing trend (19th livestock census report). However the milk production recorded as increasing trend with 25.759 thousand tons in the year 2011-12 over 2007-2008.
Citation
Kundu, M. S.; Kundu, A.; and Roy, S. Dam, "Feasibility of Buffalo Rearing on Pasture in Tropical Climate of Andaman and Nicobar Islands" (2020). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 2.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/23/3-6-1/2
Included in
Feasibility of Buffalo Rearing on Pasture in Tropical Climate of Andaman and Nicobar Islands
The Andaman and Nicobar group of Islands form the Southern most tip of the Indian subcontinent, located (6-14° N latitude and 92-94°E longitude) in the South Eastern part of the Bay of Bengal .There are 572 Islands of which only 37 are currently inhabited. The Islands are beautiful and unique. The indigenous plants, animals, livestock, and marine life contribute to uniqueness of these Islands. The total livestock population has increased to many fold from meager 38.6 thousand in 1961 to 154.75 thousand in 2012. The buffalo constitute 5.08 per cent of the livestock of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The buffaloes are of mongrel populations which are inheritance from Murrah, Nagpuri, Bhadawari, Marathwada and nondescript population. They are water buffalo and have very low milk yield. The herd size varies from 4 to 21. The buffalo populations in these groups of islands are recorded to be 7863 as per 2012 livestock census. The milk production from the buffalo is 1.843 thousand tons for the year 2013-14. Standard feeding systems indicate that the feed and fodder available are not sufficient to meet the requirement of the livestock. Severe shortages of both dry and green fodder remain the major concern for production of milk from the present livestock population. It is estimated a shortages of dry and green fodder are 51.80 percent and 99.56 per cent respectively (Kundu et al., 2010). However these Island livestock has adapted themselves to the subsistence type of feeding management for production purposes. Due to non availability of regular and ample fodder for the stall feeding of the livestock, owners resort to letting their animals stray for grazing. The grassland or fallow lands available in the area are being used for grazing for the buffalo. The grass land of Andaman has been developed due to the deforestation of virgin forest and consists of under shurbs, shrubs and trees besides the grasses and forbs, either in the isolation and scattered of in large and small patches with variable density.
Climate of these islands have a tropical, maritime climate. The temperature varies from 21.6°C to 32.5° C, the average annual rainfall is about 3100 mm distributed over 8-9 months with range of relative humidity from 74 to 90 per cent throughout the year. Intense solar radiation is observed between February to April.
Out of 37 inhabitant islands, 12 islands have no livestock whatsoever and another 4 islands have populations of less than 200. The cattle, buffalo and goat are the predominant livestock species in Andaman group of Islands where as pig and goat are the predominant species for Nicobar group of Islands. The growth rate of selected categories of livestock as per the quinquenial census of both 1997 and 2003 showed a positive growth. The milk production was also increased from 23.18 thousand tons in 2000-01 to 26.42 thousand tons in 2003-04 registering a growth rate of 13.97 per cent during the period of four years. However the growth rate of cattle, buffalo, goat and pig has decreased due to loss of livestock during tsunami which struck these islands on 26th December 2004. It also caused extensive damage to the agricultural land specially the flat land suitable to paddy cultivation. Around 8068.71 hectare paddy land was assessed to be damaged by tsunami/earth quake out of 12000 ha flat land suitable for paddy cultivation. This caused severe shortages of paddy straw for feeding the livestock. Both decrease in livestock population and the non availability of straw resulted in reduction of total milk to 23.890 thousand tons in 2007-2008 registering decline of 9.57 per cent over the 2003-04. The populations of livestock remain in decreasing trend (19th livestock census report). However the milk production recorded as increasing trend with 25.759 thousand tons in the year 2011-12 over 2007-2008.
