The city had of land ( were irrigated, which was 77% of the cultivated area) under cultivation in 1999, producing of grain per hectare, which marked Shannan as an important commercial grain production centre in Tibet. Animal husbandry, another agrarian sector covered 2.2 million ha of posture land with all farmhouse holds involved in animal husbandry; there were 2.14 million heads of domestic animals (comprising 12 percent yaks, 10 percent cows, 50 percent sheep and goats 20 percent goats). Its agricultural tradition is traced to the ancient Yarlong tribes when the city was known as "the grain store of Tibet".