Cattle

Animal husbandry and dairy development plays an important role in the rural economy and regional development. Cattle keeping supplements the income of rural households, especially that of marginal farmers and landless workers. It provides a subsidiary occupation in semi-urban areas, and more so for the people living in the hilly and drought prone areas. According to the All India Summary Reports of the 17th livestock Census released in July 2006, India possesses the largest livestock population in the world after Brazil. It accounts for about 56 per cent of the world’s buffalo population and 14 per cent cattle population. It ranks first in respect of buffalo and second in respect of cattle population, second in goat population and third in respect of sheep in the world.

At the state level, Madhya Pradesh has the largest number of cattle in the country followed by Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, and Karnataka. The percentage of cattle in the states of Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Meghalaya, is less than 0.2 per cent each. The density of cattle per 100 hectares of the gross cropped area in India is 112 which varies 365 in Manipur and 35 cattle in Haryana.

Cattle population in India can be classified into: (i) milch breed, (ii) draught breed, and (iii) mixed or general breed.

Milch Breeds: The cows which give relatively higher quantity of milk are known as milch breeds. The famous milch breeds in India are Deoni, Gir, Sahiwal, Sindhi, and Tharparkar. The Deoni breed is a native of the north-western parts of Andhra Pradesh which gives about 2000 kg of milk per lactation. The Gir breed is a native of Saurashtra which yields over 3000 kg of milk per lactation. The Sahiwal breed (formerly known as Montgomery in Pakistan) yields about 3000 to 4500 kg of milk per lactation period. The Sindhi breed is red in colour and produces about 5000 kg of milk per lactation.

Draught Breeds: The bullocks of the draught breeds are excellent draught animals. The main draught breeds in India are: (i) Nagori, and Bachaur, (ii) The Kathiawari, Malvi and Kherigarhi, (iii) the Mysore type characterised by prominent forehead with long pointed horns which are close together, e.g. Ilallikar, Amritmahal, Kangyam, and Killari, and (iv) the small black and red coloured breeds of the Himalayan region known as Ponwar and Siri.

Dual Purpose Breed: The cows of these breeds give good quantity of milk and bullocks are good quality draught animals. Some such important breeds arc Hariana (popular in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab), Ongole (belongs to Gantur and Nellore Districts of Andhra Pradesh), Gaolo (Nagpur and Wardha), Rath (Haryana and Mewat), Dangi (Nasik), Kridhna Valley and Nimari.

In order to improve the breed of the Indian cattle, seven central breeding farms have been established. Some of the exotic breeds yielding higher quantity of milk like Jersey, Holstein-Erie, Sain, Swiss brown, German Flekvich and Ayreshire have been introduced in the country which are becoming popular amongst the dairy farmers. The seven Central Breeding Centres are at Suratgarh (Rajasthan), Dhamrod (Gujarat), Alamadhi (Tamil Nadu), Chiplima, Similigude (Odisha), Andcshnagar (Uttar Pradesh), and Hessarghatta (Karnataka).