CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS EFFECTS ON LIVESTOCK

The livestock production is an integral part of mixed farming systems practiced in the entire length and breadth of India. Furthermore, while vulnerability to climate change has hardly been documented in the context of India; experimental studies have been conducted on effects of season and climate on production, performance and other physiological parameters of dairy animals. The average daily milk yield of the crossbred animals in the hot-humid eastern part of India was significantly reduced by the rise in minimum temperature and not maximum temperature, as rise in minimum temperature crossed the critical temperature of comfort while the maximum temperature was already above the comfort zone. The estimated annual loss at present due to heat stress among cattle and buffaloes at the all-India level is 1.8 million tonnes, that is nearly two per cent of the total milk production in the country, amounting to a whopping over Rs 2,661 crore. Livestock owners adopt various type of management strategy during adverse climatic conditions. This study will help in documenting those strategies which will reveal their traditional knowledge and coping methods etc.