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| Livestock |
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| Livestock refers to all domestic animals that are used to produce food and other valuable products for man. It includes cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats and pigs. Livestock may be milk producing or meat providing. |
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| These are milch animals. The milk-producing animals reared in our country are cows, buffaloes, goats and camels. Goat's milk is very nutritious. Goats can be milked anytime of the day. However, the production of goat's milk is far less compared to that of cows and buffaloes. Buffalo's milk has higher fat content than cow's milk. Buffaloes are the major source of milk in our country. Let us study the rearing of some milch animals. |
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| India possesses the largest cattle population in the world. But the average milk yield of a cow in India is much less than in many other countries. About 70% of the cattle are dry and the others give an average of just 1-2 litres of milk per day. The following are some breeds of cows domesticated in India. |
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| Draught Breeds |
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| Draught breeds are basically beasts of burden. They are used for drawing bullock carts, ploughing land and transporting material from one place to another. They are strong and sturdy but give less milk. |
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| Dairy Breeds |
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| These cows are reared for yielding milk. The bullocks are not suitable for draught purposes. |
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| Dual-purpose Breeds |
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| These cows are good milk yielders and the bullocks are good draught workers. |
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| Farmers in villages domesticate draught and dual-purpose breeds because these fulfil their needs. They provide enough milk to support a family and help in ploughing the fields or drawing water from the wells. |
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| There are 26 breeds of cows in India. They differ in colour, general body build, form of horns, forehead and geographical distribution. We have the indigenous Indian breed, the exotic foreign breed and cross breeds of dairy cows. |
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| Red Sindhi |
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| This cow is medium in size and red in colour with dark and light shades of red. |
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| Sahiwal |
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| This is a large, heavily built cow and is of a superior breed. |
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| Gir |
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| This breed is found in Gujarat in the Gir forest. This cow is medium in size and is a good milk yielder. |
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| Other well known breeds are Dangi, Deoni, Tharparker and Haryana. They are dual purpose breeds and fairly good milk yielders. |
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| The following are some exotic breeds of cows that have been successfully crossbred in India. |
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 Jersey hails from Island of Jersey, USA |
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 Holstein Friesian hails from Holland |
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 Brown Swiss hails from Switzerland |
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| The following are some improved breeds of dairy cows that have been developed in our country at the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal, Haryana. |
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 Karan Swiss : This is a crossbreed between Brown Swiss and Sahiwal |
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 Karan Fries: This is a cross breed between Holstein-Friesian and Tharparkar |
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 Frieswal: This is a cross breed between Holstein-Friesian and Sahiwal |
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| With cross breeding the yield of milk has increased by two or three times more than the yield from Indian cows. |
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