India, Sept. 30 -- A figure of 35 million is often quoted, but without a source, claims report

India meets 53 per cent of its milk and 74 per cent of meat requirement from animals reared by pastoralists . While the Union government has no data on the community, a new report has pegged their number in the country at 13 million - nearly one per cent of the population.

A wide range of pastoralist systems exist in India - from fully mobile to transhumant (seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures) and sedentary. Animals maintained in mobile systems include camels, cattle, ducks, donkeys, goats, pigs, sheep and yaks.

The global report released September 30, 2020 stated, in its special section on India:

"There ...