Surinder Sud: Cattle class in India

Indiscriminate cross-breeding has hurt the genetic purity of local cattle. It is time we developed indigenous breeds in a systematic manner

Is the Narendra Modi government's obsession with preservation, improvement and promotion of desi cattle misplaced? This question needs to be considered at from a wider perspective before coming to a definite conclusion.

Admittedly, the white revolution that made India the world's largest milk producer was mostly the outcome of cross-breeding local cows with exotic breeds to increase their milk yield. But this fact alone cannot be a decider. Other factors need to be considered too, such as the overall maintenance cost of cross-bred animals, their fodder and feed requirement, adaptability to local ways of keeping farm animals and susceptibility to common diseases and parasites, among others. Where milk output is concerned, some good Indian strains have also displayed genetic potential to yield 2,000 to 3,000 litres of milk in a 305-day lactation (milking cycle), which does not compare poorly with the productivity of most cross-bred cattle. With well-judged scientific interventions, these animals may be able to compete better with cross-bred cattle without inheriting their limitations.

Besides, Indian cattle are known to possess several extremely useful genetic traits that make them unique in some respects. Animal breeders from across the world have historically been utilising these genes to impart sturdiness and disease tolerance to their cattle populations. Remember, the well-known Brahman breed found widely in the US, Argentina, Brazil and some other countries has been derived from Indian cattle strains.

Animal husbandry experts feel that the indiscriminate cross-breeding of the kind that has been going on for the past several decades is not a healthy trend. This has adversely impacted the genetic purity of desi strains. "The distinct biodiversity of our cattle breeds has been diluted due to changing breeding policies and adoption of a few improver breeds in our cattle improvement programme," says K M L Pathak, deputy director-general (animal sciences) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Today, less than 12 per cent of all cattle in India qualify to be categorised into 44 different well-marked populations, including 37 registered cattle breeds. The rest are nondescript animals.

A goat expert from the Makhdoom (Mathura)-based Central Institute for Research on Goats (CIRG) also endorses this viewpoint. "Instead of cross-breeding, it is better to bring about improvement through selective breeding to produce high quality males and females," maintains CIRG principal scientist Pramod K Rout. With unsystematic cross-breeding, we may lose some unique gene sequences that may be useful in future. Experience from the Indo-Swiss animal improvement project in the early 90s also showed that selective breeding in pure-bred goats was more effective and profitable than cross-breeding for scaling up productivity. Buffaloes are the best case in point where the performance-based selection of animals has helped evolve the world's best breeds in the Indian subcontinent.

The latest Livestock Census (2012) data released last week bears out the threat that rampant cross-breeding poses to home-grown livestock. While the count of exotic and cross-bred cattle has spurted in the last five years by nearly 35 per cent, from 14.4 million to 19.42 million, that of indigenous ones has remained almost static at around 48 million. With business as usual, a downturn in the proportion of animals belonging to recognised domestic breeds cannot be ruled out.

Keeping this in mind, the recent launch of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission for conserving and developing indigenous breeds in a systematic manner is a welcome step. Apart from enhancing the inherent productivity of local livestock strains, the mission will help set up indigenous cattle centres near metropolitan cities, raise elite breeding stocks, encourage the selection of animals on the basis of field performance and pedigree, and promote the formation of cattle breeders' societies.

Hopefully, the institutions created under this mission will not be run like many of the existing 4,000-odd goshalas (cow care centres) spread across the country. Only some goshalas maintain indigenous cattle herds with proper breeding plans. Others are incapable of doing so due to the lack of wherewithal and expertise. Worthwhile cattle conservation effort is confined chiefly to public sector institutions, notably the Karnal-based National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (read animal gene bank), animal research institutes, agricultural universities and some organised cattle farms. Technical collaboration between these bodies and well-managed goshalas can increase the yield potential of indigenous cattle without sacrificing their desirable genetic traits.

surinder.sud@gmail.com