About 6,500 commercial livestock farms in Nepal, highest in Province 1

Laxman Kafle / Kathmandu, Nov.20: There are a total of 6,486 commercial livestock farms in Nepal. A Commercial Livestock Integrated Survey 2021 made public by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development showed that a total of 6,486 commercial livestock farms are in Nepal.

With technical support of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development and the National Statistics Office (the then Central Bureau of Statistics) conducted the integrated survey of large and medium-scale livestock operating commercially in Nepal in the last fiscal year 2021/22.

Of the total 6,486 number of farms counted on the day of list, goat/mountain goat farms stand as the largest farm type with 2,295 (35%) followed by cow farm 1,233 (19%) and 914 buffalo farm (14%) whereas male buffalo farm comes to be the smallest and numbers only 43.

Similarly, it is mentioned in the survey report that there are 572 sheep herding farms. Similarly, 180 pig farms are in operation for meat and 364 pig farms for pig production purposes.

This survey showed that there are 483 cow/buffalo (mixed) farms, 198 goat/mountain goat/sheep (mixed) farms and 265 cow/buffalo and goat/mountain goat/sheep (mixed) farms in Nepal.

Standing on top of the list among the provinces, Province 1 and Gandaki have close to one fifth of all estimated farms while Karnali and Lumbini stand second sharing about 17 per cent of the total farms. Madhes falls in the lowest rank and at about 6 per cent.

Among such commercial animal husbandry farms, it has been found that Province 1 has the highest 1,270 farms and the lowest 404 farms in Madhes Province.

According to the survey, about 44,873 cows/bulls are raised commercially in Nepal. Out of this the number of advanced breed cows/bulls is 33,757 (75 per cent). Among them, the number of milking and non-milking cows is 15,380 (63 per cent) and 9,104 (37 per cent), respectively.

The survey showed that the highest number of cows/bulls is 9,364 in Bagmati Province and the lowest number is 2,274 cows/bulls in Sudurpaschim Province.

Similarly, about 34,653 male buffaloes/buffaloes are raised commercially in Nepal. Out of this the number of improved breed buffaloes is 24,447 (71 per cent). Among them, the number of milking and non-milking buffaloes is 10,841 (61 per cent) and 6,931 (39 per cent), respectively.

The survey showed that the highest number of 11,469 buffaloes was in Gandaki Province and the lowest 1,630 buffaloes were in Sudurpaschim Province.

A total of 150,568 goats are raised commercially in Nepal, of which the number of advanced breed goats is 67,067 (45 per cent).

According to the survey, the highest number of 33,216 goats (22%) were in Province 1 and the lowest 6,502 (4%) in Madhes Province. Similarly, the number of commercially reared mountain goats is 31,781 in the country.

The survey showed that a total of 88,421 sheep and 38,360 pigs are raised commercially in Nepal.

According to the report, estimated total milk production over the average lactation period comes to be 69,034,548 litres. Of this, a total of 45,803,457 litres of milk was produced from 15,380 milking cows during the milking period. Likewise, a total of 23,231,091 litres of buffalo milk was produced from these commercial farms. From the point of view of cow milk production, it has been found that Bagmati Province is in the leading position with the production of 13,598,510 litres of milk.

The obtained results show that the average milking period of local breeds of cows is nine months and that of advanced breeds is ten months.

From the point of view of buffalo milk production, it has been found that Gandaki Province is in the leading position with 83,88,183 litres of milk produced. The milking period of buffaloes is nine months and eight litres of milk is produced per buffalo per day.

According to the Ministry, a total of 798 livestock farms have been selected for this survey.

The main objective of the survey is to measure key indicators related to size and characteristics of livestock along with economic, social and technical dimensions of the commercial livestock farms, said the Ministry.