When was the last time you saw a desi cow, either foraging on garbage heaps in Bengaluru or on the grassy hills of Malnad?
Indigenous cattle breeds like Malnad Gidda native to the hilly districts or Deoni native to north Karnataka are disappearing from our landscape, with those cross-bred with imported Jersey and Holstein Friesians (HF) cows dominating the scene.
The Department of Animal Husbandry in Karnataka is now set to bring back the desi breeds in two ways: the first method planned is straight-breeding of the best among indigenous variety; the second is cross-breeding native ones with other native varieties within India rather than with the imported.
Protocol violations
This has become necessary because unscientific cross-breeding in violation of protocol (which mandates maintaining a 50:50 ratio in gene pool between native and exotic varieties) over the years has resulted in cows that are highly susceptible to diseases and difficult to maintain, says Harsh Gupta, Secretary to the Department of Animal Husbandry. The first proposed method involves identifying the best-yielding 5 per cent of an indigenous breed and propagating the germplasm, which leads to improved yield over a few generations. “Indigenous breed are resilient, better suited to climatic condition and adjust to fodder availability,” says Mr. Gupta, adding that it was the cross-bred cattle that were worst hit by the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.
The other change proposed is using breeds like Sahiwal from Punjab, Gir from Gujarat, and Tharparkar from Rajasthan for cross-breeding with local varieties instead of the imported ones.
“We’ve depended on exotic imported breeds and never tried Indian high-yielding breeds,” says Mr. Gupta.
