Indian Indigenous Cattle

NEW DELHI: Climate change is spurring something positive for India: growing overseas demand for indigenous cattle, which the government is keen to support. Markets from Australia to Brazil are seeking India's cattle for their resilient qualities such as tick resistance, heat tolerance and the ability to flourish even with inadequate feeds. "There is demand for Indian cattle in the international market. Brazil and Australian want Indian breeds," agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said. "Climate change will reduce productivity in all cattle. Drop in milk yield will be maximum in exotic breeds, not so in local Indian cattle." The germplasm — genetic material including sperm and embryos — of cows from Gujarat's Gir to Andhra Pradesh's Ongole are some of the varieties that are in demand for their superior milk producing ability. The minister said government support could help to improve the quality of local breeds of cattle and incr...

About 200 bulls that tested the adrenaline rush and guts of youth at the famous Alanganallur Jallikattu will be brought to Narasipuram—about 30 km from the city—home for the rest of their lives. Managing Trustee of the Velliangiri Goshala, Narasipuram, P. Siva said that a few days before Pongal he came to know that prize bulls worth Rs. 2 lakh, when they raced down Jallikattu tracks, were sold for about Rs. 40,000 for slaughtering as the owners of the bulls were disappointed after the sport was banned. “Since then our team camped at villages around Madurai and studied the ways and means to protect the bulls and to prevent them from being sold for meat’’,” he said and added that four such methods met with failure. He said that the villagers and bull owners were surprised when the trust offered to buy the animals and nurture them at their centre in Coimbatore. He said that president of the Tamil Nadu Jallikattu Peravai P. Rajasekaran played an important rol...

A pair of Kangayam bulls speeding at the rekla race in Coimbatore early last year before the race was banned.— File Photo: M. Periyasamy  More than seven months after the Supreme Court banned conducting jallikattu and rekla race, farmers and rekla race organisers of Pollachi and nearby areas are still in wait with the hope that the ban will soon be lifted. Rekla race organisers said that the Kangayam breed that was predominantly used for the race would become extinct in a few months if the ban was not lifted soon. Rekla race organiser V. Senthil Kumar (38) said that contestants from the region used to participate in races in Dharapuram, Udumalpet, Marathukulam, Palani, Palladam, Sulur, Kinathukadavu, Vettaikaranpudur, Anamalai and vice versa. “About 250 carts participate in each race,” he said. S. Prabakran (41) of C. Arthanaripalayam near Pollachi, who has participated in over a hundred races, and organised many, said that about 100 villages in and a...

Representing the breeders of renowned Kangayam cattle, the Senaapathy Kangayam Cattle Research Foundation (SKCRF) has made a representation to the Prime Minister seeking steps to file a review petition in Supreme Court for lifting the ban on jallikattu . “People who wanted the ban on jallikattu are far removed from the village life and not aware of the importance of jallikattu in maintaining the natural biodiversity of the native livestocks like Kangayam cattle. The sport also provides a bond between cattle and agriculturists,” K. S.M. Karthikeya, a prominent Kangayam cattle conservationist and managing trustee of the SKCRF, told The Hindu . Traditional sport He pointed out that the traditional sport like jallikattu provides an encouragement to the breeders of native livestock species like Kangayam cattle since the sturdy bull of that variety in the respective villages was used for the sport. “Without which, the small scale farmers usually rear cows not the ...

The competition attractedover 350 categories Majesticity of hundreds of Kangayam bulls and cows was all pervasive on the AET School grounds near Thindal all through Sunday. A carnival like atmosphere was created by enthusiastic farmers who turned up in droves with their well-grown and groomed cattle. Biodiversity While it was a matter of immense pride for the farmers to own the sturdy cattle, they were, in fact, contributing to biodiversity, since the number was fast diminishing in the country, as the statistics provided by the rearers indicate. According to K.S.J. Karthikeya, Managing Trustee, Senaapathy Kangayam Cattle Research Foundation, the number of the particular breed, deemed the mightiest in physical strength and stamina, has come down from 11.7 lakh in 1990 to just about one-tenth the number now. Jointly organised by the Foundation and the Kangayam Cattle Breeding Society, the exhibition- cum-competition under three categories attracted o...

http://www.dahd.nic.in/dahd/WriteReadData/large%20ruminants%20guidelines/Conservation_indigenous_breeds_Cattle%20and%20Buffalo.pdf

Dairy farm stresses on protecting them If knowledge is divine, is it not desirable for the devout to celebrate a religious festival by disseminating information on it? Sri Venkateswara Gosamrakshanasala, the mammoth dairy farm belonging to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) management, decided to celebrate ‘Sri Krishna Janmashtami’ in a big way by creating awareness on indigenous breeds and the importance of preserving and propagating them for the benefit of posterity. Apart from the traditional religious rituals, a first-of-its-kind event is the plan to display the native breeds of cows and bulls that are a prized possession of the dairy farm. The ‘Go Samrakshanasala’ is a home to 1,600 heads of cattle, which includes animals from 12 prestigious native Indian breeds such as Kankrej and Gir (Gujarat), Tharparker, Rathi (Rajasthan), Sahiwal (Punjab), Deoni (Maharashtra and Karnataka), Umblachery and Kangeyam (Tamil Nadu), Punganur and Ongole (Andhra Pra...