-The Hindu Business Line
Cow population up 18 per cent in seven years but number of oxen plunges 30 per cent
The population of cows in the country has risen by 18 per cent in the last seven years, while that of oxen dipped by 30 per cent, according to the latest census of livestock. The total number for livestock was pegged at around 536 million.
The provisional data of the 20th Livestock Census released by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying on Wednesday showed that the livestock population increased by 4.6 per cent, from 512.06 million in 2012.
Besides, there was a spectacular 16.8 per cent increase in the poultry population in the country to 851.81 million, mainly on account of a 46 per cent rise in backyard poultry birds, whose numbers have gone up to 317 million.
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