Draught Animals Power 85 Million Hectares of Indian Rainfed Farmland

An estimated 70-73 million draught animals continue to support agricultural operations across approximately 85 million hectares of cultivated land in India, providing small and marginal farmers with reliable, low-cost farm power that tractors cannot always replicate. Despite mechanisation expanding across the country, animal power remains embedded in the livelihoods and cropping systems of rainfed regions, yet receives little attention in agricultural policy discussions.

India hosts one of the world's largest populations of draught animals and recognises 55 indigenous cattle breeds, of which 30-35 are traditionally classified as draught or draught-type animals. Tractor hiring costs range from Rs 700 to Rs 1,200 per hour, making repeat operations prohibitively expensive for smallholders cultivating fragmented plots. Draught animals, by contrast, depend largely on locally available crop residues and village commons grazing. In tribal areas of Jharkhand, bullocks are used for nearly 100 days per year across both kharif and rabi seasons, with farmers showing increasing interest in improved implements such as seed drills and cultivators.

The role of draught animals extends beyond economics. India's indigenous breeds evolved across diverse agroecological zones, with specific breeds adapted to dryland, semi-arid, hilly and wet-soil conditions. Festivals such as Pola, Mattu Pongal, Goru Bihu and Balada Yatra affirm the cultural ties between livestock, farming communities and land. Weekly cattle markets and fairs sustain livestock lineages and breeding knowledge. Studies suggest that many improved animal-powered technologies developed by research institutions remain largely unknown to farmers, pointing to a persistent gap between research output and field adoption.

Practitioners and researchers argue that with appropriate tools, institutional support and stronger value chains, animal power could evolve into a more efficient and resilient form of farm energy. In Gujarat, tractors and bullocks frequently coexist within the same farming systems, with animals handling sowing, weeding and inter-cultivation on smaller plots. Local fabricators in some areas produce hundreds of bullock-drawn implements each year. At a time of rising fuel costs and climate uncertainty, renewing and adapting animal-power systems could contribute to more inclusive agricultural energy transitions in rainfed India.

Key figure — 85 million hectares of cultivated land still partly dependent on animal power