The 19th livestock census will be completed by November-end in all the States and the final report will be presented by August 2013, the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) said today.
The livestock census is conducted once in five years. The last census report was finalised in 2007.
“The 19th livestock census was launched on September 15 except in Sikkim and Jammu and Kashmir. The census will be completed in all the States by November-end and the final report will be presented by August 2013,” CSO Director-General S. K. Das told PTI on the sidelines of an event here.
At present, information about livestock population has been collected in 18 States and the process is midway in the remaining 17 States, he said.
Undertaking a census is a huge task and completion of data collection on livestock depends on the deployment of a large number of enumerators by the State Governments, he said.
After collecting the data, Das said the tabulation process will begin and the CSO has engaged the National Informatics Centre (NIC) for this purpose.
The NIC has already set up data entry centres in 18 States and has assured that it would set up centres in the rest of the States by December-end, he added.
Das said the census is being conducted to estimate the population of livestock in the country, while a separate survey is being conducted for forecasting the production of milk, eggs, meat and other livestock products.
The Integrate Sample Survey, conducted to estimate livestock production for fiscal 2011-12, is in the final stages. The State Government officials have been called today to discuss and finalise the report, he said.
Addressing the meeting, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Secretary G. C. Pati directed the State officials to submit production data to the centre at the earliest as this would help finalise estimates for better policy planning.
“We should reduce the timelag in finalisation of the data. Unless the data is not finalised, we cannot use it for any policy planning purpose,” he said.
He emphasised the need to compile the data on feed and fodder availability in the State to ensure the better health of livestock. He also stressed the need to collect data on livestock loss due to the sudden outbreak of diseases.