Livestock water interaction: status and issues

At 479 million, India has a large and rising livestock population comprising of cattle, buffaloes, goat, sheep, camel etc. Draught power for agriculture and dairy milk production are the two main purposes for rearing bovines while small ruminants are reared in a low input intensity manner taking advantage of the forest and common lands.Livestock composition is seen to be influenced by numerous factors: prevalence of forests, availability of irrigation, advent of mechanization and development of remunerative markets for livestock products.Water is required for direct consumption by livestock as well as for supporting the production of biomass on which livestock thrives.The estimate of 5 billion cubic meters of water for livestock as done by the National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development is possibly on the lower side when both these factors are considered.Livestock contributes significantly to the household economy of the poor but they own no water sources for supporting their livestock.As such the water requirement of livestock has an important dimension of social equity.Finally, water quality and livestock production appear to have a two way interaction.This paper presents a broad picture on the above issues as a prelude to identifying four research issues that are taken up for work in this theme.These issues are as follows: a. Carrying out an assessment of water needs, both direct and indirect; b.Understanding how do the poor and the underprivileged manage the water needs of livestock Do farm households with access to irrigation engage in more intensive livestock production than those who do not have access to irrigation? c.Understanding what is the current state regarding quality of water available to animals and what impacts does it seem to have on their health and productivity.