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.
