Bovine Sex and Species Ratios in India [and Comments and Reply]

Vaidyanathan, A.; Nair, K. S. S.; Harris, Marvin; Abruzzi, William S.; Adams, Richard N.; Batra, Sunaina; Chibnik, Michael; Crotty, Raymond; Doherty, Victor S.; Freed, Stanley A.; Freed, Ruth S.; Fruehling, Royal T.; Maclachlan, Morgan D.; Nonini, Donald M.; Robkin, Eugene E.

doi:10.1086/202866

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…They posit that as human density increases, draught animal density increases only up to a threshold; thereafter, draught animals are discarded and cows are retained. Thus, both Vaidyanathan et al (1982) and McIntire et al (1992) suggest that milkorientation or HER of a district should increase with increase in population density, once it crosses a threshold level. Since most districts in India have relatively high population densities, we would expect a positive correlation between HER and population density and negative correlation between bovine and work animal density and density of the (human) population.…”

Section: Empirical Strategymentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Accordingly, HER is expected to be higher when dairying is practised as a commercial activity. Vaidyanathan et al (1982) argue that bovine male-female ratio is density dependent in India. They posit that as human density increases, draught animal density increases only up to a threshold; thereafter, draught animals are discarded and cows are retained.…”

Section: Empirical Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mechanization -Historically, cows in India have been valued to produce draught animals and milk as adjunct (Vaidyanathan et al, 1982). If animals are the main source of draught power, then there should be more male cows in the herd.…”

Section: Empirical Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Patterns and Drivers of Dairy Development in India: Insights from Analysis of Household and District-level Data

Kishore¹,

Birthal²,

Joshi³

et al. 2016

Agri. Econ. Rese. Revi.

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Traditionally, Indian farmers kept bovines, especially cattle, for draught purposes in agriculture and transportation with milk as an adjunct. However, with increasing farm mechanization and rising demand for milk, the bovine functions have shifted more towards dairying. While bovine population has been increasing, the chronic scarcity of feed and fodder reinforces the need for optimization of bovine population for sustainable growth of dairying. In this paper, using district-level data from 1997 to 2007, we show that this transformation from draught to dairying is underway in some parts of the country, and further using household-level data, we find that smallholders have contributed disproportionately more to this transformation. This transformation or intensification of dairying is demand-driven with urbanization having a strong positive influence on dairy development. On the supply-side, factors like farm mechanization, improved access to groundwater irrigation and crop diversification away from cereals, are associated with a shift in the bovine economy from draught to dairying.

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Section: Empirical Strategymentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Empirical Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Patterns and Drivers of Dairy Development in India: Insights from Analysis of Household and District-level Data

Kishore¹,

Birthal²,

Joshi³

et al. 2016

Agri. Econ. Rese. Revi.

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“…His ideas, or at least his interpretation of various aspects of India's cattle complex, received some support, mainly from economists and those working in the field of development. [70][71][72][73][74] However, anthropologists and others criticized Harris' position on theoretical grounds. 56,[75][76][77][78] Some scholars, such as anthropologists Stanley and Ruth Freed, presented field data from India as evidence that Harris' technoenvironmental determinism was flawed, arguing that ''emotion, belief and attitude profoundly influence human behavior.''…”

Section: Emergence Of the Sacred-cow Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Symbol and Sustenance: Cattle in South Asian Culture

Lodrick

2005

Dialect Anthropol

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Domesticated Indian zebu cattle were present on the western margins of the South Asian subcontinent as early as 6000 B.C. Cattle were important in the agricultural economy of the Harappan civilization of the Indus Valley, but archaeological evidence suggests the bull was also assuming a symbolic or religious role in this culture during the third millennium B.C. There is, however, little to suggest that the cow was viewed as sacred. Following the decline of the Harappan civilization, northwestern India was settled by Aryan-speaking peoples who laid the foundations of modern Indian society. The Aryans were pastoral by nature and the economic importance of cattle to this society is mirrored in the role of cattle in ritual, in the pastoral symbolism of the Vedic literature (the ancient religious literature of Hinduism), and also in the association of the cow with various Vedic deities. Yet, again there is nothing to suggest the cow was viewed as sacred at this time. It is not until the appearance of the ahimsa philosophy at the end of the Vedic period, and the acceptance of this belief in the major religious philosophies of the region (Jainism, Buddhism, and later Hinduism), that the concept of the sanctity and inviolability of the cow began to crystallize. The ''sacred-cow concept'' appears as established doctrine in Hindu literature by the end of the medieval period (ca. fourth century A.D.), although popular practice appears to be at variance with this doctrine. A variety of historical, political, religious and social factors appear to have contributed to the general acceptance of the sacred cow doctrine by the Hindu population at large. During the 1960s, the ''sacred cow'' was at the center of a controversy in the social sciences concerning whether the concept was essentially religious in nature or reflected the ecological realities of the cattle economy of the Indian subcontinent. This debate notwithstanding, cattle remain central to the Indian economy, but also play a significant role in the religion and rituals of modern Hinduism, particularly those related to the worship of Krishna. Cattle have also assumed a political role in contemporary India, with anti-cow-slaughter legislation and the protection of the cow being identified with the emerging Hindutva movement. No understanding of South Asian culture can be complete without an awareness of the economic, historical, political and religious dimensions of cattle in the Indian subcontinent.

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“…The Indian cattle census reveals a 200: 100 ratio favoring oxen:cows where male traction animals are needed. This ratio varies across India depending upon availibility of feed and upon availability of alternative traction animals (Vaidyanathan, Nair, & Harris, 1982). The ratio drops to 67:100 where traction needs are low and food is scarce (Cultural Materialism, p. 38).…”

Section: Structure and Superstructure As A Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

BEHAVIORAL ANTHROPOLOGY: A REVIEW OF MARVIN HARRIS' CULTURAL MATERIALISM¹

Lloyd

1985

J Exper Analysis Behavior

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Bovine Sex and Species Ratios in India [and Comments and Reply]

Cited by 6 publications

References 9 publications

Patterns and Drivers of Dairy Development in India: Insights from Analysis of Household and District-level Data

Patterns and Drivers of Dairy Development in India: Insights from Analysis of Household and District-level Data

Symbol and Sustenance: Cattle in South Asian Culture

BEHAVIORAL ANTHROPOLOGY: A REVIEW OF MARVIN HARRIS' CULTURAL MATERIALISM¹

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Bovine Sex and Species Ratios in India [and Comments and Reply]

Cited by 6 publications

References 9 publications

Patterns and Drivers of Dairy Development in India: Insights from Analysis of Household and District-level Data

Patterns and Drivers of Dairy Development in India: Insights from Analysis of Household and District-level Data

Symbol and Sustenance: Cattle in South Asian Culture

BEHAVIORAL ANTHROPOLOGY: A REVIEW OF MARVIN HARRIS' CULTURAL MATERIALISM1

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BEHAVIORAL ANTHROPOLOGY: A REVIEW OF MARVIN HARRIS' CULTURAL MATERIALISM¹