About 70 per cent of the India�s human population is dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Livestock sector is the integral part of Indian agriculture. Livestock sector provides sustainability and stability to the national economy by contributing to farm energy and food security. During the last decade, the annual growth rate of livestock has maintained a steady growth of 4.8 to 6.6%. In contrast, the crop production remained either stagnant or increased marginally. An estimated 440 million livestock heads distributed over 100 million households in approximately 600,000 villages in the country provides livelihood and food security. India has approximately 182 million cattle, 98 million buffaloes, 126 million goats, 68 million sheep and 18 million other animals. The rain fed areas face great instability in crop production due to erratic and inadequate rainfall. Due to uncertainties in the crop yields, livestock production has been found to provide economic stability to farmers. The rain fed land can sustain livestock better than crop production. 1322125457.php