Seemandhra and Telangana will share livestock almost equally after the bifurcation with the 10 Telangana districts having a larger cow population and the 13 Seemandhra districts having larger buffalo population. But the livestock and poultry of Seemandhra are more productive.
According to the 19 Quinquennial livestock (latest) census the Seemandhra districts have 52 per cent of the total livestock, which includes cows, buffaloes, sheep, goats and pigs. Seemandhra districts have 54 per cent of the poultry of the State with Telangana districts having just 46 per cent.
There was not much difference in the population of the cows, buffaloes and other animals, there was a lot of difference in production (which is the quantity of milk, eggs and meat) between Seemandhra and Telangana, veterinary experts say.
According to the census the population of cows and buffaloes in the productive age is higher in Seemandhra. Sixty-one per cent of the female buffaloes that are over three years old and 54 per cent of the female cattle that are over two and a half years old are in Seemandhra.
The number of male animals and the population of cattle that are not productive are comparatively higher in Telangana.
The percentage of male cattle over 18 months old is 64 per cent in Telangana compared to the 36 per cent in Seemandhra. The population of both cattle and buffaloes in Seemandhra is younger when compared to that of Telangana, say the experts. This was one of the major factors for higher milk production.
The number of veterinary institutes is also slightly more in Seemandhra. Out of the three Colleges of Veterinary Science in the state two – Tirupati and Gannavaram – are in Seemandhra and the third is in Rajendra Nagar of Telangana.
The research stations are however distributed equally in the two regions. The six livestock research station in Seemandhra are located at Palamaner, Guntur, Garividi, Mahanandi, Venkataramannagudem, and Siddharampuram.
The five stations located in Telangana are at Mahaboobnagar, Hyderabad, Rajendra Nagar, Anthargaon and Mamnoor.
While one Fisheries Research Station is in Telangana at Palair, there are two in Seemandhra at Kakinada and Undi. The All India co-ordinated Research Project (AICRP) for Pigs is located at Tirupati the AICRP for Poultry at Hyderabad.
Six veterinary polytechnic colleges – Palamner, Ramachandrapuram, Madakasira, Venkataramannagudem, Garividi and Rapur-- and one fisheries polytechnic college (Bhavadevarapalli) are located in Seemandhra and four veterinary polytechnic colleges – Mahaboobnagar, Karimnagar, Siddipet and Mamnoor — are located in Telangana.
