Livestock Population Vis-a-vis Common Property Land Resources : Trends from Gujarat

This paper discusses the trends of livestock population between 1972 and 1992 and the area under Common Property Land Resources (CPLR) between 1970-71 and 1995-96 in the state of Gujarat. It has been observed that despite a decline in the livestock population during 1972-77 and 1982-87 due to droughts, there has been an overall increase of about 33.4%. Contrary to these trends, the proportion of CPLR to the total geographical area of the state declined from 27% to 18.4% between 1970 and 1995. The similar trends were reflected across the five regions of the state. Due to increase in the livestock population, there has been significant increase in the livestock density in terms of adult cattle unit (ACU) per CPLR, which increased from 2.62 ACU/ha in 1972 to 4.49 ACU/ha in 1992. The implications of the above findings have been explained in the light of trends in the livestock population and the area under CPLR in the state and across regions.