Andaman and Nicobar union territory comprises of 572 islands of which only 36 are inhabited. Theses islands are also called emerald islands and are widely known for their panoramic beauty, clean environment and unpolluted beaches. This union territory is most remote and geographically isolated part of the India Union and has to support a human population of 356265(2001 census). Andaman group of islands have 24 inhabited islands and Nicobar group have 12 inhabited islands. Since these islands have variable resources and constraints, an umbrella development programme was bound to fail in making any impact.

For intensification of agriculture, livestock and poultry production, available resources were mapped and classified. Stock was taken of total area, forest, cultivable area, land use, cropping pattern, human population, livestock and poultry population, requirement of animal products and accessibility to market as resources important for devising island specific development programme.

A livestock intensification index (LII) was developed based on total livestock products requirement (TLPR), % livestock population, human population, cultivable land and accessibility to market. The index (LII) has a value for each island varying from 0-1. The islands close to 1 are resource rich and most suitable for livestock production enhancement activities and islands having a score close to 0 are resource poor and unsuited for intensification activities. The index would be a help in prioritizing livestock production intensification activities. The data was classified using GIS and scoring was done for various resources and classes as detailed in Table 1.

Table 1: Classification of data and scoring pattern

Cultivable Land (ha)/ Score		% of total livestock /Score		Human Population/Score		Total livestock product requirement (t)/Score		Accessibility to market (hrs)/Score
0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	>> 20 hrs	0
1-100	0.05	0.1-2.0	0.05	1-100	0.05	0.1-5.0	0.05	10-20 hrs	0.05
101-1000	0.10	3.0-8.0	0.10	101-1000	0.10	6.0-50.0	0.10	6-10 hrs	0.10
>>1001	0.20	>>9.0	0.20	>>1001	0.20	>>51	0.20	0-5 hrs	0.20

Livestock Intensification index
island _id	Island name	Livestcok_intensification index	Id
1	East Island	0.1	7
2	North Andaman	0.85	23
3	Interview island	0.15	11
4	Aves	0.15	1
5	Middle Andaman	0.9	19
6	Long island	0.5	18
7	North passage	0.25	24
8	Baratang	0.15	2
9	John Lowrance	0.20	12
10	Havelock	0.75	10
11	Stewart island	0.15	32
12	Flat Bay	0.25	8
13	Smith island	0.35	30
14	Peel Island	0.3	27
15	Neel Island	0.75	22
16	Curlew	0.15	6
17	Parlob	0.2	26
18	Strait island	0.25	33
20	South Andaman	1	31
21	Viper island	0.4	36
22	Rut land	0.4	29
23	North Sentinell	0.3	25
24	Little Andaman	0.8	16
25	Car Nicobar	0.80	4
26	Chawra island	0.50	5
27	Teressa island	0.55	34
28	Boompaka	0.30	3
29	Kamorta	0.60	13
30	Trinket island	0.35	35
31	Nancowrie	0.55	20
32	Katchal	0.55	14
33	Pilomilo	0.25	28
34	Little Nicobar	0.25	17
35	Kondul	0.25	15
36	Great Nicobar	0.65	9
40	Narcondum	0.1	21

0.60.-1.0 Suited for increased livestock production
0.35-0.55 Potential for Increased livestock production
0.00-3.0 Livestock component may be introduced


Fig 1: Showing distribution of livestock population in different islands