Sustainable Livestock Development (3 credits) pot

AEM - 205 BUnit 1Role of Livestock in Sustainable Rural Livelihood Security Structure 1.0 Objectives 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Livestock ownership 1.3 Roles and functions of livestock in the

Unit 1 : Role of Livestock in Sustainable Rural Livelihood Security 3-15

Published by

National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE),

Rajendranagar, Hyderabad – 500 030, Andhra Pradesh, India

Dr M.N Reddy, Director (Agri Extn & Commn.) & Principal Coordinator (PGDAEM)

Ph Off: (040) 24014527, email: mnreddy@manage.gov.in

Dr N Balasubramani, Assistant Director (Agri Extn.)

Ph Off: (040) 24016702-708 Extn 275, email: balasubramani@manage.gov.in

Course Coordinator

Dr P Chandrashekara, Deputy Director

National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE),

Rajendranagar, Hyderabad – 500 030, Andhra Pradesh, India

Ph Off: (040) 24015399, email: pcshekara@manage.gov.in

AEM - 205 BUnit 1

Role of Livestock in Sustainable Rural Livelihood Security

Structure

1.0 Objectives

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Livestock ownership

1.3 Roles and functions of livestock in the sustainable rural livelihood security

1.4 Livestock production systems

1.5 Diversification

1.6 Factors influencing production systems

1.7 Impact of livestock development programmes

After completing this unit, you will be able to understand

• The importance of livestock in sustainable rural development

• Inventory, assessment and approaches in Sustainable Livestock Development

• Various factors influencing livestock production systems

• Strategies for sustainable livestock development

Sustainable Livestock Development

For sustainable rural livelihood, resource poor farmers have to overcome technical, economicand social constraints to take benefit of increasing demand of livestock products and compete withcommercial producers There are indications that this can be done in developing countries by completeunderstanding of the different production systems evolved over a period of time and introduction ofimproved and appropriate technologies eliminating the constrained faced by the farmers.

The underprivileged families: These are described and classified using different criteria Fromthe economic perspective, they are classified using land holding, viz landless, marginal farmers andsmallholder farmers (family income is not considered since most fall below the poverty line) From asocial perspective, there are three main categories of the underprivileged families described by theGovernment, i.e scheduled/backward castes, scheduled tribes and pastoralists and within eachcategory there are many social groups in the country The population of underprivileged familiesvaries considerably between and within states

of the underprivileged families own small ruminants, while large animals are commonly owned bybetter-off families Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are exceptions, where the numbers of small ruminants

AEM - 205 B Role of Livestock in Sustainable Rural Livelihood Security

infrastructural development as well as institutional support is available to the underprivileged families

In India, the majority of the underprivileged families keep livestock; however, it is only a fewsocial groups who are recognized as specialists in selection and breeding of livestock Throughexperience, these social groups have acquired the knowledge and skills of selecting animals (malesand females) for certain characters and for the production of bulls for sale and providing breedingservices They have made major contributions in maintaining biodiversity amongst Indian livestock.Majority of these professional livestock breeders are pastoralists Other underprivileged groups aregenerally not known to specialize in livestock breeding However, there are exceptions like tribalsfrom Northern Himalayan ranges (Gaddis and Van Gujjars) and the Nes-rabaris of Gir forest inGujarat, who specialize in breeding of sheep, goats and buffaloes Their way of life is like that ofnomadic pastoralists for whom livestock is the main source of livelihood Amongst the underprivilegedfamilies there is variation, probably due to social factors, in the choice of livestock species Forexample, while the majority of tribal families in India own backyard poultry (mainly chicken andduck), pig keeping is common with tribals from Eastern and North-Eastern States but not with thosefrom Western states, where goat keeping is more common Besides the tribals of the North-East, pigkeeping in the rest of India is mainly with scheduled and backward classes, while goat keeping iscommon amongst Muslims and backward classes There is variation between social groups amongstpastoralists regarding main livestock species kept by them For example, Bharwads in Rajasthan andGujarat Dhangars in parts of Maharashtra keep sheep and goats, while the Rabaris/Raikas, inNorth-West India specialize in cattle and camel breeding Social groups from backward classes, likeNats in Uttar Pradesh and Waghris in Gujarat, specialize in breeding of buffaloes and farmers inthese areas wait for their visit to breed their own animals There are very few studies on ways of theanimal selection and management practices (under unfavourable and extreme conditions) of thesesocial groups

Preferred animals of the resource poor are buffaloes and goats Over the last decade, thepopulations of buffaloes and goats in most states are increasing more rapidly than other species andthey are considered the ‘animals of the future for the country’ (note that the increase in the chickenpopulation is mainly within the commercial sector in which the underprivileged families are notinvolved) The preference of the underprivileged families for buffaloes and goats is intriguing sinceboth are said to have many negative techno-economic characters Until recently, the buffalo wasdescribed as an animal of irrigated and assured rainfall areas where good quality fodder is available,while semi-arid and arid areas were considered cattle tracts (of breeds like Tharparkar, Rathi, Kankrejand Haryana) Yet even in these areas buffaloes are preferred over cattle In the technical literature,

many performance problems are reported for buffaloes, viz high calf mortality, late maturity, longdry periods and poor thermo-regulation, while the only favourable character reported is theirproduction of high fat milk (preferred by most Indians) Goats are reported to have high kids’ mortality,susceptibility to diseases like PPR, enterotoxaemia and parasitic infestation Moreover, goats havehad hardly any development support since they are branded as responsible for de-vegetation anddesertification (although a debatable issue) Goats seem to be preferred by the resource poor (also

by many resource-rich farmers), but still apparently not by research and development planners.Participatory studies in a few districts in Western India show that buffaloes are preferred not onlybecause their milk can be sold easily and fetches a good price (even in areas where co-operativesare not well established), but also because they are easy to maintain Adult buffaloes have hardly anyhealth problems and they can thrive on coarse feed (unlike crossbred dairy cattle); they can also besold easily when unproductive or during droughts (unlike cattle for which sale is a taboo) and hencethey are not a burden Underprivileged families due to low initial investment, low external inputs andgood market demand prefer goats However, most families were reluctant to increase flock sizes due

to the limitation of time (labour) and other resources (e.g grazing land) In-depth studies are needed

to better understand the reasons of the underprivileged families for preferring buffaloes and goats,their practices for, and perceptions about, improving animal productivity and the contributions of thelivestock to their livelihood

Three hypotheses are therefore suggested

a) The underprivileged can best be benefited through livestock production by focusing R&Defforts on improving productivity of small animals and buffaloes in smallholder systems andkeeping in view the choice or preference for livestock of some communities;

b) In many areas, compared to other livestock, goat production is more beneficial for theunderprivileged and, given adequate support services including credit and marketing, cansignificantly improve the livelihoods of the underprivileged; and

c) Understanding the breeding and management systems of traditional livestock breeders inecologically fragile arid/semi-arid and hill areas, would enable appropriate approaches to

be developed to improve livestock productivity and to maintain livestock biodiversity

AEM - 205 B

Box 1 Roles, functions and contributions of livestock

• Output function: related to producing food and non-food products

• Input function: related to providing inputs for crop production, transport etc

• Risk coverage or asset function: related to raising money at times of need

• Socio-cultural functions: related to social status, culture etc

1.3 Roles and Functions of Livestock in the Sustainable Rural

Livelihood Security

The roles and functions of livestock can be classified broadly into four major categories asshown in Box 1

The output function

This is the most commonly studied and reported function of livestock It relates to the production

of food and non-food products (milk, meat, wool, hair and eggs) used for home consumption as well

as for sale and generate employment and income for the family While using food products like milkfrom cattle and buffaloes is well studied, there is dearth of information on non-food products andproducts from small animals Home consumption of food products is affected by factors like foodhabits, economic status of the family, market conditions, crop performance and drought Duringdroughts, almost 90% of milk and all surplus/unproductive animals may be sold, being the onlycommodities available for sale Home consumption of eggs and poultry meat from backyard poultry

is very limited (mostly used for sick members or for entertaining guests) Tribal families are moreinterested in sale of birds rather than eggs Surplus goat milk for sale is available only with pastoralists

or big farmers while most underprivileged families consume all the milk produced The availability ofgood quality and fresh food products for the family, at low cost, makes even a low producing cow orgoat or fowl an important asset for the women from underprivileged families and there is need tounderstand this function when assessing the productivity of livestock

The income and employment generated from the production of food and non-food productsare well studied for large dairy animals and to some extent for small ruminants (in a few states);however, there are very few reports on pigs and backyard poultry In mixed crop–livestock systems,dairy production contributes 20 to 50% of family income; the extent of the contribution is influenced

by factors like type of animal, market condition, economic status of the family and crop condition.The share of income from milk in the total income of underprivileged family is as high as 75 to 80%

Role of Livestock in Sustainable Rural Livelihood Security

during drought Dairy production is labour intensive and the employment generated is relatively high.Family members with low opportunity cost invariably provide labour Small ruminants are a major source

of income for the underprivileged families and their contribution ranges between 17 to 24% of familyincome

The Input Function

Livestock provide inputs for crop production, transport of produce and people and fuel needs ofthe families Large ruminants provide two major inputs for crop production, viz draft power and organicmanure from their excreta Estimates indicate that 40 to 60% of dung is used as manure and the rest asfuel The extent of use for different purposes depends on land holding, herd size, economic status of thefamily and alternate material available as fuel and fertilizer Valuing cattle and buffalo dung as manure isdone only on the basis of its NPK value and the beneficial effect on properties of soils is ignored Usingdung as fuel is criticized by many, but has some positive aspects such as saving fuel wood and oil, lowcost, traditional preference for cooking, convenience and low dependency on fuel suppliers Surplusdung cakes are sold and are a good source of income for women from underprivileged families (income

is mostly used for purchase of jewellery) Biogas system is an efficient alternative for use of dung asmanure and fuel; however, its adoption is limited to a few pockets of the country Very few resource poorfamilies have adopted biogas, despite the subsidies provided by the Government, due to some constraints(initial investment, small herds, maintenance needs) The excreta from small ruminants are widelyrecognized as good quality manure and are used through an innovative and well-knit system of penninganimals in harvested fields during migration by pastoralists The system enables pastoralists to get fodderand resting place for their animals as well as the opportunity to sell animals and the farmers’ fields getfertilized However, this system is breaking down with changes in farming systems (cropping intensification,adoption of cash crops)

A few decades ago draft power for crop production and transport (of produce and people inremote rural areas) was the major function of large ruminants and particularly cattle, as is evidentfrom the fact that majority of Indian cattle breeds are draft type The share of animal power infarming and hence the demand for bullocks and their population has now gone down substantiallyexcept in states like Andhra, Orissa and Rajasthan, indicating their continuing use Only a smallpercentage of underprivileged families keep bullocks and mostly depend on others for meeting draftneeds While there is preference for bullocks for transporting material in most parts of the country,buffalo males are preferred in western Uttar Pradesh The use of animals for draft purposes results insaving of fossil fuel and thus saving of precious foreign exchange Social benefit–cost analyses showthat the estimated value of contribution of livestock through use of crop by-products, draft power and

AEM - 205 B

Risk coverage or asset function

Participatory studies on reasons for keeping livestock show that ‘asset building’, in the form ofanimal/bird, is one of the top four objectives along with income generation, meeting family needsand tradition For resource poor families, any kind of animal is an asset since it can be easilyencashed in times of need There are several examples of resource poor farmers using income, fromsale of animals, for improving their farms, irrigation facility, houses, as well as for meeting marriageexpenses or paying school fees of the children etc During drought, sale of animals is a major source

of income for resource poor farmers to sustain the family

Social function

This is an aspect usually ignored or undervalued even though it is now well known thatlivestock have strong socio-cultural linkage For most rural families and particularly for women,livestock are a part of the family Their importance in Indian rural society is evident from the fact thatlivestock are still indicators of social status, many festivals and fairs are based on livestock, and manysongs related to livestock are sung by women while cleaning, feeding or grazing and milking theanimals

Possessing an animal of their choice gives women considerable satisfaction The choice of

an animal, kept by a family, and management practices are influenced by socio-cultural factors.These factors have to be borne in mind while studying production systems and suggesting interventionsfor increasing productivity and profitability with underprivileged families

1.4 Livestock Production System

There are very few studies planned exclusively to understand livestock production systems(even farming systems in general) of the underprivileged rural families The livestock productionsystems of the underprivileged families are different from those of resource-rich farmers since theyaim at optimizing use of the limited available resources (material and labour) and minimizing externalinputs and avert risks, as against maximizing profit by the resource rich Thus ‘diversification andinternalization’ are the main features of their production systems Based on the review of availablereports and extensive observations, some shared characteristics of the livestock production systems

of the rural underprivileged families are presented in Box 2

Role of Livestock in Sustainable Rural Livelihood Security

Box 2 Features of livestock production systems

• Mixed farming system and diversified crop and livestock activities are common

• Low external input–low output and highly internalized system making maximum use ofavailable resources like crop residues, feed, labour, animal waste etc

• Extensive grazing with limited supplementary feeding in semi-arid/arid areas and limitedgrazing/semi-stall feeding in other areas

• Local breeds of livestock/poultry preferred over ‘improved’ stock as part of riskmanagement, except in areas where there is organizational support

• Traditional systems of livestock management and feeding are preferred and adoption ofscientific recommendations or technologies is very low

• Livestock output is low but represents major share of daily cash income to family

• Women play a major role in livestock production and sale of produce

1.5 Diversification

Crop–livestock production diversification is one way of optimizing outputs from limited land andreducing risks Reports from some rainfed, semi-arid districts of central Rajasthan indicate that somefarmers have as many as 27 crop and 7 livestock activities (milk, meat, wool/hair, eggs, animal sale,transport, and farm work) Diversification is more common in areas with erratic rainfall and frequentcrop failures Farmers from such areas, based on their innate wisdom, use a mix of crops (with differentmoisture requirements) and livestock so that subsistence is assured even if rains fail or disease occurs.Moreover, livestock production is less severely affected by drought than crop production and it becomesthe main source of income during years of poor rainfall

1.6 Factors Influencing Production System

Production systems are a result of the interplay between agro-ecology, stage of overall development

of the area, farming situation, market demand, organizational support, resources of the farmers andsocial factors and thus systems appropriate for specific situations are adopted by farmers in general

An important characteristic of the underprivileged families is ‘preference for assured subsistenceover risky productivity’ and hence changes in production systems and adoption of technologies orimproved animals are slow (till farmers are convinced that change is not risky and is beneficial)

• Agro-ecology and farming systems: There is large variation amongst livestock productionsystems between various regions of the country For example in the Himalayan ranges, livestockproduction can be said to be forest-based, it being the main source of fodder (throughgrazing and cut and carry system) However, in the Indo-gangetic plains crop residues arethe major source of fodder for livestock and majority of animals are stall-fed or only partiallygrazed and there is hardly any migration Another example of influence of agro-ecology onfarming systems is the variation observed in livestock production systems, predominant animaltypes, cropping pattern and dominant social groups by drawing a transect from North-west

to South-east Rajasthan One can see a shift from livestock of defined breeds to non-descriptanimals, from pastoralist dominated society to tribal dominated society and from dry farming

to assured rainfall system A similar relationship can be seen between agro-ecology, socialstructure and crop–livestock production in most other states Studies from arid, semi-aridand mountain areas, that are ecologically fragile, sparsely populated and inaccessible tomarkets, show the need for an approach different from conventional approach The holisticand resource-based ‘niche approach’ that considers farmers’ needs is strongly recommended.Considering the variability that exists in the country, such studies are essential for the planning

of development programmes suitable to the conditions prevailing in an area

Role of Livestock in Sustainable Rural Livelihood Security

• Women in livestock production: The role of women in livestock production varies amongstunderprivileged groups and between regions In tribal communities, women play a majorrole in livestock production as well as in the sale of produce, while pastoral women aregenerally involved in looking after the new born and sick animals Amongst most of the otherbackward communities, women have a greater role with small animals and backyard poultry,while men manage large animals There is poor awareness regarding ways of improvinglivestock productivity to improve livelihoods—a consequence of weak public extension supportfor livestock There is need to strengthen extension and it is crucial that women’s involvement

in livestock research and development (R&D) is promoted

Within this context of livestock production systems, three hypotheses are suggested

1 Under rainfed conditions diversified crop–livestock production systems in which livestock andcrops ‘niche well’ together, are the best way to improve the livelihoods of the underprivileged

3 More productive livestock production systems can be adopted by the underprivileged working

in developed areas and wherever they have access to organizational support

1.7 Impact of Livestock Development Programmes

Some economists clearly showed that agricultural and rural growth reduces poverty drasticallywhile industrial growth has very little effect on poverty Smallholder livestock production has a specialrole in this regard since the majority of the poor are involved in livestock production and it is labourintensive Other factors favoring smallholder livestock development are sustained growth in demandfor livestock products and low value of ‘Gini Coefficient’ (0.16 against 0.65 for crop production)indicating that income distribution through livestock is more equitable than from crops

The experiences from livestock development programmes suggest three hypotheses

1 Livestock development is most likely to be effective as ‘a pathway out of poverty forunderprivileged rural families’ and enable them to compete with commercial producersprovided:

AEM - 205 B

a Organizations planning and implementing livestock development programmes aresensitive towards the needs, resources, production systems and perceptions of thefamilies;

b Livestock development is a part of ‘integrated development programme’ that rates natural resource management and development of producers organizations toprovide credit and services (backward and forward linkages) and help to improveefficiency and quality of livestock produce;

incorpo-c Technologies, recommendations and services are developed on the basis of ‘needsassessment’ and are pre-tested for being beneficial to the resource poor farmer;

d Livestock extension is strengthened and targeted to the underprivileged families ticularly the women

par-2 Livestock production by resource-poor farmers can be more economic provided they haveaccess to adequate techno-economic support; and

3 Integrated livestock development can improve all five ‘capital assets’ within the sustainablelivelihoods framework

1.8 Recommended Strategies

It is proposed that inter-disciplinary and action-oriented livestock development programmesshould be planned and carried out to improve the livelihoods of the underprivileged families in Indiashould target the following:

• Livestock production systems of underprivileged communities in contrasting agro-ecozones

in Central, Eastern and North-Eastern India with priority given to small-stock, specificallypigs, goats and backyard poultry;

• Research should address the livestock-livelihood issues of the different social groups of theunderprivileged categories (as given by Government);

• Research should start by ensuring a shared understanding between the development teams and their clients—the underprivileged communities—of the preferences

research-for-of the communities for specific types research-for-of livestock, their perceptions (particularly research-for-of the women)about the roles and functions of the livestock in livelihood strategies, and what, from theirperspective, constitutes improvement;

• Subsequently action-oriented participatory research with individuals, households, communitiesand villages will identify, characterize and prioritize constraints and interventions for improvedproduction and marketing; and

Role of Livestock in Sustainable Rural Livelihood Security

• Action plans should then be agreed and implemented based on the outcomes of the iterativeinteractions amongst the social groups and the technical teams regarding the ways to increaselivestock productivity and profitability and to improve the non-market functions of livestock athousehold, community and village levels.

Obviously this approach will require a change in paradigm from the conventional reductionist,animal-level research to people-centred, participatory and holistic methods It will be iterative research-for-development programme that is inter-disciplinary, multi-institutional and, ideally, multi-locational(for cross-site lesson learning) It is recommended that the core research for development teams(with a minimum of two women members) will include animal production and health scientists, asociologist, an anthropologist and an agricultural economist and that the team will draw on water,crop and soil scientists and human health specialists (as and when need arises) It is proposed thateither the National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NCAP) or the IndianVeterinary Research Institute (IVRI) should act as the local coordinating agency and integrate into theinteractive research-for-development process state agricultural universities, specialist research centresand NGOs (experienced in livestock development) from respective regions

If these recommendations are accepted and acted upon, important outputs of the programmewill be the strengthening of the capacities of the collaborating organizations to undertake participatory,inter-disciplinary research in support of sustainable livestock-based development, with the concurrentstrengthening of extension capacities and greater involvement of women

1.9 Let us Sum Up

In India underprivileged families account for about one-fourth of the population and contribute

a major part of livestock production Livestock are central to their livelihood and culture The majorlivestock species are cattle, buffalo, goat, sheep, pig and poultry and their output, input, risk, assetand social functions are hall marks of India’s underprivileged families There are several factorsaffecting where and how the livestock were managed To improve the livelihoods of the underprivilegedfamilies through livestock, inter-disciplinary action-oriented research should target communities holdingsmall stock, specifically goats, pigs and backyard poultry It is recommended that the research shouldstart by ensuring a shared understanding between research-for-development teams and theunderprivileged communities of the preferences of the communities for specific types of livestock,their perceptions (particularly of the women) about the roles and functions of the livestock in livelihoodstrategies, and what, from their perspective, constitutes improvement Subsequently, action-orientedparticipatory research would identify and address constraints to, and opportunities for, improving

AEM - 205 B

livestock-based productivity and profitability and the non-market functions of livestock Therecommended approach will require a change in paradigm from the conventional reductionist,animal-level research to people-centred, participatory and holistic methods in iterative research-for-development programmes that are inter-disciplinary, multi-institutional and, ideally, multi-locational

to facilitate cross-site lesson learning Given the increasing demand for livestock products, this is anopportune time for animal scientists to make an impact on the livelihoods of the underprivileged byadopting this change in the development paradigm

1.10 Key Words

Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: Livelihood options like farming, livestock rearing, forestry, etc thatensure a satisfactory living for the rural families on a sustainable basis

Livestock farming: Keeping, rearing and managing livestock for economic purposes

Functions of livestock farming: The various functions like input, output, and asset and social forwhich the livestock are used as livelihood option

1.11 Further Readings

Rangnekar, D.V 2006 Livestock and livelihoods of the underprivileged communities in India: Areview International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya 72 pp http://www.ilri.org/Infoserv/webpub/fulldocs/LivestockInTheLivelihoods/LivestockUP_India_Final.pdf

Reddy, G S, Reddy, B M K, Misra A K, Prabhakar, M and Sambrajyam, A 2005 TAR-IVLP: On-farmassessment and refinement of technologies in Southern Telangana Zone of Andhra Pradesh NATP.Central Research Institute for Dryalnd Agriculture, Hyderabd, India 54pp

1.12 Check Your Progress

1 What are the livestock resources of our country?

2 Discuss the various functions of livestock farming in the context of sustainable rural livelihoods

3 Comment on the impact of livestock development program

Role of Livestock in Sustainable Rural Livelihood Security

AEM - 205 BUnit 2

After completing this unit, you should be able to

• Understand the importance of livestock biodiversity in sustainable rural livelihood in India

• Biodiversity of cattle and buffaloes and the need for preserving the genetic resources

2.1 Introduction

Livestock like cattle (bulls and cows), buffaloes, sheep and goat are an integral part of India’ssocio-economic life Animal husbandry is a part of agricultural economy It directly supports aboutfive per cent (20 million) of our population India has two per cent of the geographical area andaccounts for 15 per cent of livestock population (400 million) Cows and buffaloes comprise 56.5per cent of world population It has been estimated in official reports that capacity of land to supportgrazing is 31 million, whereas the population, which grazes, is 90 to 100 million It has also beencalculated that fodder required for total population is 1800 million tons (MT) per annum whereasthe total fodder available is 900 MT Due to shortage of feed and fodder and poor management

Sustainable Livestock Development

practices the daily output of local breeds in India is around 2 litres per cow and 3 litres per buffalo Cattlepopulation, like human population, needs water, fodder and other resources for a healthy and productivelife At the same time, religious and social values prohibit cow slaughter in most of the states (except WestBengal and Kerala) It is unfortunate that stray and unproductive cattle, mostly old bulls and cows, whichcannot lactate, are abandoned and hence they survive on garbage, which includes harmful plastic bags.Due to mechanization like tractors and fragmentation of land holdings, many poor farmers cannotafford to rear cattle for milk and draught A cow is useful only if after a cost-benefit analysis the poorfarmer gets a profit A bull, as a draught animal similarly needs to be reared If ploughing a field by acontract tractor is cheaper, then bulls are a drain on the family income Also, since high yield variety ofcows are imported for greater yield and standardization, our livestock diversity is today under threat.

2.2 Importance of Biodiversity

Livestock products are valued at Rs 1000 billion or about eight per cent of GNP India has thelargest population of livestock in the world and is the world’s number one producer of milk Livestockprovide us animal draught power, nutrition like milk and meat, manure, and skin for the leatherindustry Leather export is India’s eighth largest foreign exchange earner Table below gives theapproximate figures of population of some important livestock

The draught power of animals is also phenomenal Eighty million work animals (comprising 70

Indigenous milch breeds: Sahiwal, Sindhi, Gir and Deoni Thereare about 10 dominant general utility breeds like Nimari, Dangi,Hariyana, Mewati, Rath, Ongole, Gaolao, Krishna valley,Tharpakar and Kankrej

India has more than 66 per cent of world population Importantbreeds are Murrah, Bahndawari, Jaffarabadi, Surti, Mehsana,Nagpuri and Nili

Five per cent of world population

20 per cent of world population and 20 per cent of biodivesity

in India Twenty-one recognized breeds - largest, Jamunapari.Provides for 37 per cent of meat consumption Leather or hide

is in high demand Called a “poor man’s cow”, goat milk wasGandhi’s favourite Animal is easy to rear and maintain asversatile and adaptable

Livestock Population Breed

AEM - 205 B

per cent bullocks, 21 per cent cows and 9 per cent male buffaloes) plough 100 million hectares of landand haul 14 million carts, thus saving six million tons of petroleum valued at Rs 120 billion Eighty threemillion draught animals (72 million bullocks) contribute an equivalent of 30,000 MW of electricity andplough 100 million hectares, almost two-thirds of India’s cultivated area, doing work for about 15million tractors, thus saving 6 million tons of oil They also excrete 70 million tons of recoverable manure,which is used as fuel and fertilizers saving a thermal equivalent of 27 MT of kerosene, 35 MT of coal or

68 MT of wood

2.3 Cattle Biodiversity

The Indian cattle belong to kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata, sub phylum Vertebrata, classMammalia, sub class Eutheria, order Ungulata, family Bovidae, genus Bos, species indicus In 1992India with 204.58 million cattle, constitutes 15.97% of the world cattle population India stands firstwith respect to the bovine population having 1/5th of the world’s bovine population About 80% of thetotal cattle population in India are non-descript Further the large majority of descript cattle belongs todraught and dual-purpose breeds The distribution of different classes of cattle (millions) in 1992 hasbeen shown in Table 1

Between 1987 and 1992 cattle population grows at an annual growth rate of 0.48% Out ofthe 204.58 million cattle, 15.21 million were crossbred cattle, which is 7.43% of the total cattlepopulation Between 1987 and 1992, crossbred grows at the rate of 5.92% The changes within thecattle population over the last two decades indicate a radical shift in the priority of the farmingcommunity from production of work animals to milk production The proportion of the female in thepopulation increased steadily with 1972 as turning point Between 1972 and 1982, the number ofworking male in cattle population declined sharply (by 12 million) and among females the proportion

of adult females increased (63% in desi and 61% in crossbred) gradually However, the proportion ofdesi cows steadily declined and a marked phenomenal growth took place in the number of crossbreds.Total crossbred number grew from 8.80 million in 1982 to 11.59 million in 87 (31.70%), and 15.21million (31.32%) in 1992 In the northern region, desi cow population has declined substantially and

Crossbred

15.216.49

TotalAll cattleAdult female

IndigenousDescript28.418.68

Non-Descript160.9649.19

the region now accounts for 40% of all crossbreds in the country The South has the second largestpopulation of crossbred cattle –34% followed by west, which has 15% of the crossbred Eastern regionhas the highest proportion of desi cows and lowest percent of cross breeds (11%) Among all the States,Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab have the largest number of crossbredcattle and together they account for nearly 65% (9.50 million) of all the crossbred cattle population inthe country in 1992 (Table 2).

2.3.1 Trends in cattle population

Table 2 Cattle population trend in India (Million No)

Species/category 1987 1992 Annual Growth rate

AEM - 205 B

2.3.2 Cattle breeds of India

Details of Important recognized breeds of cattle of India with their breeding tracts, are given below:

Table 3 Important recognized breeds of cattle of India with their breeding tracts

Herds established in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana.

Number of Red Sindhi herds has been established in India.

Bikaner and Ganga-nagar Districts of Rajasthan, Sirsa Distt Of Haryana and part of Ferozepore district of Punjab.

Tharparkar District of Sind (Pakistan) and Kutch, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer desert area of India.

Marathwada region of Maharashtra Hariana home tract is in Haryana State but the breed is found in U.P., Bihar and parts of Rajasthan.

Bani tract of Bhuj District, North Gujarat and part of Rajasthan adjoining to Gujarat Guntur and Ongole Districts of Andhra Pradesh.

Breeding tracts are in Marathwada region of Maharashtra Khandwa District of Madhya Pradesh.

Parts of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan A dual purpose breed.

Found in Vidarbha Region of Maharashtra.

Found in Western Maharashtra.

Found in southern part of Maharashtra Found in Karnataka

Found in Hassan, Mysore and Tunkur districts of Karnataka.

It is found in Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu.

Nagore District of Rajasthan.

Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu Found along the Ken river of Banda District of UP and MP.

Hill tracts around Darjeeling and in Sikkim Bhutan is the real home of this breed.

Sitamarhi District of Bihar.

Kheri District of UP.

West Alwar and Bharatpur districts of Rajasthan The breed is mainly found in Mewat region but is also known as Kosi.

Thanjavur District of Tamil Nadu.

Southern border of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

Pilibhit and North West part of Lakhimpur Kheri District of UP.

Kerala Small animal.

Dwarf cattle, Andhra Pradesh.

Livestock Biodiversity

Cattle

>10000Normal(Intermediate)

5000-10000Insecure

1000-500Vulnerable

100-1000Endangered

<100Critical (Rate)

The population statistics of different breeds of cattle revealed that Malvi had the maximum estimatedpopulation (0.75 million) followed by Gir (0.54 million), Kankrej 90.46m), Ongole (0.38m) and Hariana(0.33m) whereas Red Sindhi and Sahiwal had very low estimates of 2400 and 3400 respectively Thismay be due to the fact that a large part of the home tract of these two breeds are now in Pakistan Themaximum decline in the population of different breeds from 1977 to 1982 was observed in Bargur (-49%) followed by Kangayam (-18.2%) The population of Mewati (-14.10%), Hariana (-8.65%), Ponwar(-8.0%), Siri (-5.60%) and Nagori (-2.4%) also exhibited during this period This decline in the population

of these breeds has been attributed to the fast changing socio-economic condition of the farmers, change

in the nature of farming, shrinkage of grazing area, emphasis on crossbreeding as a tool to increasemilk production also preference of buffalo over cow for milk production

The population size in thousands for consideration of endangered status of a breed under Indiancondition for cattle have been suggested by NBAGR which shown below:

The endangered Indian cattle breeds, which need attention for their conservation, are asunder-

Red sindhi , Sahiwal, Tharparkar, Vachur, Punganur, Mewati, Kenkatha, Kheriagarh,Bargur,Panwar, Siri, and Krishna valley

2.3.3 Proximate Causes affecting cattle biodiversity are

• Lack of awareness

• Economic benefits

• Overall policy of breed improvement

• Shrinkage of grazing land

• Over population of livestock-high density

• To improve yield and economic benefits

• Replacement of local non-descript breeds to productive cattle8 Over mechanization of agriculture

& transport

• Inadequate attention on identification of germplasm and performance recording

• Indiscriminate cross breeding with exotics for other purposes

AEM - 205 B

Consequences of loss of cattle genetic biodiversity are

• Stagnation and even deterioration of production performance of indigenous breeds

• Loss of indigenous genetic resources

• Disappearance of native varieties and breeds

• Threat to native draught breeds

• Loss of indigenous biodiversity

• Shrinkage and even disappearance of grass-lands lead to loss of biodiversity

• Grassland ecosystem is disturbed

2.3.4 Utility of Indian cattle

Dairying is closely interwoven with the socio-economic fabric of rural people in India.Traditionally, dairy animals have performed multiple functions of producing milk for householdconsumption, males as a source of draught power in agricultural operations, and dung as manureand fuel Besides, dairy animals have often performed important functions of banking and insuranceduring the times of crop failure and drought situations

Dairy production system in India mainly consists of smallholders Around 100 million milchanimals are spread over 5 lakh villages among 70 million farmers There are about 100,000 villagemilk cooperatives with 11 million farmers as members Landless, small and marginal farmers own68% of milch animals and contribute nearly 62% of total milk produced Around 63% of the availableanimal protein in Indian diet (10 g per capita per day against a world average of 25 g) comes frommilk Apparently milk would continue to be a major source of animal protein in India Livestockaccount for about one forth of the GDP in agricultural sector output in India, in which dairy accountsfor the Lion’s share In1998/2000 milk accounted for 69.3 % of the livestock sector output In fact,milk with a share of 18 % in gross value of agricultural sector has emerged as the largest agriculturalcommodity produced in the country This shows rising importance of dairying in India The per capitaavailability of milk, which has been growing over the years, is projected to reach 232 gm/day in2004-05 An extensive nation wide study carried out by the NCAER in 1990 found that revenue frommilk sale alone amounted for 33% of the family income (National average) Details of importantcharacteristics and other features of some of the important recognized breeds of cattle are givenbelow:

Livestock Biodiversity

A Milch Breeds

Gir: Gir cows are high milk yielder, milk yield ranging from 2000 kg to 6000 kg per lactation with fatpercentage ranging from 4.5% to 5% Bullocks are heavy and powerful draught animals Heat anddrought tolerant

Sahiwal: Best India dairy breed and most economic milk producer Sahiwal cows are well-known fortheir milking capacity Milk yield varies from 2000 to 4000 kg per lactation, with fat content varyingfrom 4% to 4.5% Heat and drought tolerant

Red Sindhi: The milk yield varies from 2000 kg to 4000 kg per lactation, with fat content varying from4% to 4.5% Heat and drought tolerant Resistance to any diseases Exported to Malaysia,Brazil andCuba etc

Tharparkar: Bullocks are slow workers Cows are good milkers, with average milk yields varying from

1800 to 3500 kg per lactation Heat and drought tolerant

B Dual Purpose Breeds

Rathi: Good potential for milk production Resistance to adverse climatic conditions of the desert area.Milk yield ranges from 1800 kg to 3500 kg per lactation

Deoni: Dual purpose breed

Hariana: Bullocks are useful for ploughing and transport Cows are good milkers Milk yield is 1000 to

Dangi: Especially good for heavy rainfall areas for draught purpose

Mewati: Mewati cattle are in general sturdy, powerful and docile and are useful for heavy ploughing,carting and drawing water from deep wells Cows are said to be good milkers

AEM - 205 B Livestock Biodiversity

C Draught Breeds

Red Kandhari: Draught purpose and hardy in nature Bullocks are good draught animals Cows aregood milkers

Nimari: Draught breed

Malvi: A Draught purpose breed

Khillari: Bullocks are hardy and well known for being fast in work It is the most popular draft breed ofN-Western India

Amritmahal: Bullocks are well known for draught power and endurance Average milk yield is 1000 to

1200 kg per lactation Best draft breed of India

Hallikar: Draught breed both used for road and field agricultural operations

Kangayam: Bullocks are strong draught animals Their skin is very strong and tight

Nagore: It is an excellent draught breed for hot climate

Bargur: Bullocks are good work animals

Kenkatha: Bullocks are small but fairly sturdy animals and good for cultivation in rocky areas

Siri: This breed can stand the rugged conditions of the mountains (high altitude breed) very well Bullocksare eagerly sought after for draught purposes (ploughing and transport) due to their reputed greatstrength

Bachaur: Bullocks are used for draught purpose Cows are poor milkers Best draft breed of Bihar.Kharigarh: The cattle of this breed are very active and thrive on grazing only Bullocks are good for lightdraught and quick light transport The cows are poor milkers

Umblachery: It is a draught breed of the Zebu type, similar to Kangayam but smaller Excellent for wetploughing

Ponwar: Draught purpose Cows are poor milkers

Vechoor: Bullocks are mainly used for draught purpose Cows are poor milkers Miniature cattle Themost important genetic quality of the Vechoor breed is the high fat content in milk- from 6.02% to7.86%

Pungannur: Dwarf cattle

The various breeds and distinct animals types developed through selection and breedingpractices and quest for development of need based animal types in different agro climatic zoneshave required specific morphological and physiological characteristics grouped as adaptation Thatled into development of different kind of breeds suitable in different part of country and servingIndian through various ways, which will be discussed below.

For centuries, the use of cattle for milk and draught purpose has been universal Indigenouscattle contributed 24% and crossbred cattle 16 % to the total milk pool Most of the cattle breeds aresuited for draught power but produce little milk India has about 70 million draught animals Thevalue of energy produced by draught animals has been estimated to be over Rs 100 billion annuallyand it saves foreign exchange outgo of Rs 40 billion One adult worker plus a pair of oxen wouldprovide for about 3-4 hectares of land 0.4 KW/hectare Which is satisfactory for most of Indianfarmer It produced draught animal power of about 195 million MW energy Cattle manure is used

as fertilizer for crops it also used for bio- gas production The Indian cow is gaining importance notonly for the quantity and quality of milk that it yields but also for the medicinal and nutritionalimportance of its products beside traditional use of dung and urine for agriculture The high profilePanchgavya is five materials obtained from cows that includes milk, curd, ghee, cow urine and dungposses the medicinal value Indigenous animals are sturdy, are endowed with quality of heat tolerance,resistance to diseases and ability to thrive under extreme nutritional stress Some of these breedshave enormous potential to become high producing commercial milch animals, and there is a needfor the development of these breeds Pre-requisite for the development of a breed are large enoughpopulation size, a wide selection differential for economic traits The indigenous dairy breeds ofcattle with potential for development as commercially viable milch animals in a comparatively fewgeneration are: Sahiwal in Punjab, Rathi and Tharparkar in Rajasthan and Gir and Kankrej in Gujarat

If these breeds were selectively mated with genetically selected bulls (through sib lei and progenytesting) individuals of these breeds would be commercially viable in just one generation and thebreeds as a whole in few generations The genetic potential of milk animals are not optimally expressedhas been proven through nutritional studies that milk production can be increased by 20 to 30% byimproved feeding alone There is acute shortage of nutrients for our livestock and presently gap isabout 40 to 50% During 1992, 57.79 million is the milch cattle population and contributing 26.57million tones of milk i.e 41.64% of the total milk production in the country Hence cow-biodiversitysector of the country is to be conserved and a national and state-level implementation of breedingpolicy of the country as well as the State may be drawn as early as possible Selective breeding intheir home tract of pure indigenous draught breeds must be undertaken and preserved very carefully

AEM - 205 B Livestock Biodiversity

Gir, Tharparkar, Sahiwal, etc in selected pockets should be started The conservation of domesticcattle biodiversity is a complex and multi-dimensional activity in which number of agencies can playsignificant role Different measures of conservation should be implemented through national andstate-level strategies, plans and programme developed, keeping in view the social and culturaldiversity, ecology, farming practices, present level use, sustainability and economic use Thus allthese issues should be carefully harmonized

2.4 Buffalo Biodiversity

According to the FAO statistics, the world buffalo population in 1982 and 1992 were 128and 148 million, respectively, indicating 1.5% average annual growth rate for the past decade Thebuffalo population in Asia was consistently 95-96% of the world total for the last 10 years In SouthAsia, India, a country of the world largest buffalo population, accounted 53% of the world total in

1992 and increased her buffalo population by 880 thousand for the last 10 years with an annualaverage increase rate of 1.1% In India, buffaloes make up about 35% of milk animals (other thangoats) but produce almost 70% of the milk Buffaloes live on course vegetation on the marginal landtraditionally left to the peasants.They help make human survival possible serving as a protein source,tractor and storage of family wealth In some areas,they also provide recreation at annual racingfestivals

2.4.1 Buffalo breeds

The major genetic divisions of the water buffalo are the Swamp buffalo (Bubalus carabanensis)

of the eastern half of Asia, which are slate gray, droopy necked, and ox-like with massive sweptbackhorns They wallow in any water or mud puddle they can find or make And; the River buffalo

(Bubalus bubalus)of the western half of Asia which usually is black or dark gray with tightly curled or

drooping straight horns They prefer to wallow in clean water There is also the Mediterraneanbuffalo, which is of the River type but has been isolated for so long that it has developed someunique characteristics Only in India and Pakistan are there well-defined breeds with standard qualities.There are 18 River buffalo breeds in South Asia, which are further classified into 5 major groupsdesignated as the Murrah, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Central Indian and South Indian breeds Withinthese groups are breeds The best-known breeds are Murrah, Nili/Ravi, Jafarabadi, Surti, Mehsana,Kundi and Nagpuri Most of the buffaloes of the Indian subcontinent belong to a nondescript groupknown as the Desi buffalo