Andhra Pradesh, which used to produce about 7-8 lakhkgof wool per annum until a few years ago, did not produce any wool in 2021-22. Till 2014, the state accounted for nearly 11% of the total wool production in the country. The production saw a gradual decline over the years, and it has now come down to zero.
As per the Union governments basic animal husbandry statistics 2022, this is due to the states shift to meat production-based cultivation. Even in the country as a whole, wool production decreased by about 10.3% in 2022 compared to a year ago. While ewes contributed to 63.8% of the total wool production, ram/wether and lamb contributed to only 18.86% and 17.37%, respectively.
Of the 9.29 million tonnes of meat production, over 51% came from . The top five meat producing states in 2022 wereMaharashtra(12.25%), Uttar Pradesh (12.14%), West Bengal (11.63%), Andhra Pradesh (11.04%), and Telangana (10.82%). They together amounted to 57.86% of total meat production in the country during the last financial year.
Andhra Pradesh was also among the top five milk producing states. The state has a per capita availability of 799 grams of milk a day almost two times higher thanthe nationalaverage of 444 grams. The milk production from exotic/crossbred cattle increased by 6.16% and indigenous/non-descript cattle by 6.13% in 2021-22 as compared to previous year. The milk production from buffaloes also witnessed an improvement by 4.44%. Nearly 31.58% of the total milk production was contributed by indigenous buffaloes, with crossbred cattle contributing 29.91%. The total export of Livestock and livestock products was valued at 46,083 crore.