App clicks for Haryana livestock census

Bhartesh Singh Thakur       

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 11

Buffaloes and cattle across Haryana have unexpected guests these days. Powered by apps, the 20th Livestock Census has started this month and for the first time, pictures of farm animals are being clicked.

As many as 2,840 enumerators, equipped with tabs, are going from house to house, collecting details of the livestock through app ‘Har Pashu Ka Gyan’.

Pictures are a key component of the app. “These will help distinguish the animals from one another. Our app is better than the one provided by the Government of India,” says Additional Chief Secretary, Animal Husbandry, Sunil Kumar Gulati. The enumerators can choose between breeds of the livestock in the app.

The data includes age, sex, milk production, inter-calving period, vaccination, de-worming status and feeding practices.

The information collected will be linked to another app, ‘Har Pashu Ka Dhyan’, where owners can access their own data. “With the help of this app, the Animal Husbandry Department can reach the owners and provide facilities like de-worming, artificial insemination services, pregnancy detection, delivery, etc,” says Gulati. The mobile numbers of owners are also being collected for communication.

After recording details, a green sticker, saying ‘Main Bhi Pashu Premi Hoon (I am also an animal lover)’, will be pasted outside the house, while those where there are no animals will have a red sticker, reading ‘Pashu Rakhta Nahin, Par Pashu Premi Hoon’ (I do not keep animal, but I am an animal lover)’.

Besides collecting information on buffaloes and cattle, information on sheep, goat, pig, horse, pony, mule, donkey, camel, dog, rabbit, elephant, yak, and poultry birds is also being collected. Cowsheds, stray cattle as also meat shops and butcheries will be included in the census. For the first time, information on fishery will be collected. Apart from enumerators, supervisors, scrutiny officers and independent workers will take about three months to complete the census. The last livestock census in Haryana was conducted in 2012 when livestock population was 8.81 million, while in 2007 it was more at 8.85 million.

‘Pedigree record key’

Keeping record of individual animals is a basic necessity of any livestock development programme. This huge data will form the foundation for the  Animal Health and Breeding Management System. —Sunil Kumar Gulati, ADDL CS, Animal Husbandry