Livestock in Hamirpur

Animals are used during sowing, to draw water from wells, and to transport people and goods. Dung is used as fuel. Some supplemental income can come from sale of milk. For these reasons, and also possibly due to traditional Hindu reverence for the cow, Hamirpur has had a high livestock population for ages.

It is often said that there is more livestock than human population in Hamirpur.

High ownership of goats and other animals is not matched by fodder resources. As shown in the table in Land Use in Hamirpur, grazing land in UP Hamirpur is negligible. As a percentage of total area,  it also had more land under forests, which are also used for grazing. This accounts for higher animals per capita in MP Hamirpur. 

Animal husbandry is an integral component of District’s agriculture supporting livelihood of more than two-thirds of the rural population. 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. They are a natural capital, which can be easily reproduced to act as a living bank with offspring as interest, and an insurance against income shocks of crop failure and natural calamities. Livestock employed 2.2% in the agricultural work force.

Open grazing, including stray grazing, is normal in Hamirpur. during the monsoons, under supervision of  'charwahas' Animals from several neighboring villages are so fed for a period of three to four months.

As a result of all the above factors, overall availability of food for animals in Hamirpur is much below minimum requirement.

Poor food supply is reflected in poor milk yields. The economic value of livestock includes: Meat, Dairy Products, Fiber, Fertilizer, Labor and Land management. Thus, one can say that, overall, the economic benefits of Hamirpur's cattle are largely indirect. Cattle are mostly useful as draught animals. Another important benefit is that they supply cow dung, which is used as compost and fuel, and in flooring of houses.

Nevertheless, there is a large cattle 'stock' from the past, and this along with rising goat population is a reason for big concern as, in the absence of awareness or social  mobilisation to control open grazing, the animals are further reducing the region's diminished natural vegetation. Arguably, Hamirpur's cattle population is more a liability rather than an asset from a macro perspective that looks at long-term effects of environmental degradation.

There has been some talk of turning the cattle stock to an asset through development of a leather industry, but that is a very sensitive issue, especially in Hamirpur's predominantly Hindu cultural ethos. A few NGO efforts have been limited to promoting utilization of 'fallen carcass'.

Rising poultry ownership is a significant trend that has not been capitalized by government, NGOs or organized industry. Poultry rearing in Hamirpur remains a 'backyard' activity unsupported by sizeable investments in breeding, hatching, rearing, processing, or complementary supply of veterinary health services, poultry feed, and poultry equipment.

Fishing is done, mainly by scheduled caste groups like Dhimar, in the numerous tanks and ponds of the region, especially in Yamuna River.

Fishing leases are given to fishermen's cooperative societies but quite often, the societies are controlled by big landlords or powerful musclemen ('dabangs'). The fishermen themselves do not own the boats or nets they use; these are owned by the well-off landlords, who pay the fishermen daily wages and take away all the earnings from the catch. The fishermen do all the work, from breeding to selling in local markets. In many other cases, the fishermen are controlled by middlemen who finance the business.

Categories: Economy