GIS at the rescue of the flood stricken Kerala Cattle owners

Pashu Sandesh, 29^th August 2018

Geographic Information System (GIS) of cattle is now helping in a big way the flood stricken cattle owners of Kerala. The project of geo tagging of the cattle was started by the Animal Husbandry Department (AHD) of Kerala. The cattle of about 2.5 lakh farmers in the state were geo-tagged over the last six months. The project developed by the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala at Technopark involved fixing a tag with a ten-digit identification number on the ear of the animal. The GPS location of the farmer as well as other relevant details are collected and stored in AHD's database using the identification number.

Incharge of GIS project Dr Jojy Albert informed Pashu Sandesh that the data from the tag covers 24 aspects including vaccination and insurance status of the cattle apart from the information about the owners. Many animals were found wandering following floods and many were found dead. It would have been difficult to trace the owners of the animals based on the looks and body marks. But in the case of the animals with the geo-tag, it was easier to locate the owner.

Animal Husbandry Department has also issued an advisory that in case of a dead animal, a photograph of the dead animal with geo tag on should be taken before disposal and if possible GIS tag should be removed too. This process would aid in the compensation claim settlements and also eliminate the possibility of fraudulent claims.

Considering the magnitude of the success of GIS tagging, AHD of Kerala is planning to geo tag all the cattle and bird farmers as part of the next Animal Census which will be started in the month of September.