Relevance of draught cattle power and its future prospects in India : A review

Natarajan, Akila; Chander, Mahesh; Bharathy, N.

doi:10.18805/ar.v37i1.9264

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…In the leeward areas, the main source of income was highlighted as the major reason for keeping cattle which was expected considering reports by Cole et al (2019) that the bulk of beef cattle suppliers to abattoirs are from the leeward locations. The finding that draught power was ranked highly as the reason for keeping cattle tallies with reports on similar production systems where cattle, mainly oxen, provide more than three-quarters of draught power for tillage and transport (Scholtz et al, 2008;Natarajan et al, 2016). Considering that crop production is an important agricultural practice in Fiji, especially the high-scale sugarcane farming in leeward locations, draught power is fundamental to many integrated farming systems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Beef cattle production systems and constraints among subsistence farmers across the Fijian windward–leeward divide

et al. 2023

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The objective of the study was to describe beef production systems and constraints among subsistence farmers across the Fijian windward–leeward divide. Data were collected from a total of 200 beef cattle owners from windward and leeward locations (100 each) using a structured questionnaire. In both geographical regions, the heads of the households were mostly males and married. Cattle were ranked as the most important species of livestock kept in both leeward and windward areas. In both leeward and windward locations, cattle were mainly kept as a source of income and draught power. Challenges to cattle production differed with the production environment. The major challenges faced by cattle farmers in leeward locations were drought and pasture shortage while farmers in windward locations mainly had theft and disease cases. The odds ratio of Hindu farmers practicing tethering as a grazing method was five times higher than Christian farmers ( p < 0.05). Farmers with medium pieces of land were 14 times more likely to use paddocks for grazing their cattle than those with small pieces of land ( p < 0.05). Farmers in both leeward and windward locations mostly kept non-descript cattle breeds (>60%) and did not control mating. It was concluded that challenges faced by farmers differed with the production environment but feeding and breeding practices were the same across windward and leeward management locations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Beef cattle production systems and constraints among subsistence farmers across the Fijian windward–leeward divide

et al. 2023

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“…For example, 55% of the smallholder farmers in Swaziland rely on draft animal power for land cultivation, and more than 88% of draft animals found on the Swazi National Land are cattle [2]. In India, the significance of draught animal power has reduced greatly in the last few decades with its share in total farm power availability declining from about 78% in 1960-61 to 7% in 2013-2014 [3] and expected to further reduce to around 5% by 2020 [4]. Over the years, the annual use of draught animals declined from about 1200-1800 hours to 300-500 hours per pair per year [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over the years, the annual use of draught animals declined from about 1200-1800 hours to 300-500 hours per pair per year [3]. Consequently, the population of draught cattle steadily decreased at a negative annual compound growth rate of about -0.85% between 1972 and 2019, resulting in significant decline of purebred native breeds [4,5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legacy of draught cattle breeds of South India: Insights into population structure, genetic admixture and maternal origin

et al. 2021

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The present study is the first comprehensive report on diversity, population structure, genetic admixture and mitochondrial DNA variation in South Indian draught type zebu cattle. The diversity of South Indian cattle was moderately high. A significantly strong negative correlation coefficient of -0.674 (P<0.05) was observed between the effective population size of different breeds and their estimated FIS. The genetic structure analysis revealed the distinctness of Kangayam, Vechur and Punganur cattle from the rest of the zebu breeds. The results showed the influence of Hallikar breed in the development of most Mysore type cattle breeds of South India with the exception of Kangayam. Bayesian clustering analysis was performed to assess the taurine admixture in South Indian zebu cattle using purebred Jersey and Holstein-Friesian as reference genotypes. Relatively high levels of taurine admixture (>6.25%) was observed in Punganur, Vechur, Umblachery and Pulikulam cattle breeds. Two major maternal haplogroups, I1 and I2, typical of zebu cattle were observed, with the former being predominant than the later. The pairwise differences among the I2 haplotypes of South Indian cattle were relatively higher than West Indian (Indus valley site) zebu cattle. The results indicated the need for additional sampling and comprehensive analysis of mtDNA control region variations to unravel the probable location of origin and domestication of I2 zebu lineage. The present study also revealed major concerns on South Indian zebu cattle (i) risk of endangerment due to small effective population size and high rate of inbreeding (ii) lack of sufficient purebred zebu bulls for breeding and (iii) increasing level of taurine admixture in zebu cattle. Availability of purebred semen for artificial insemination, incorporation of genomic/molecular information to identify purebred animals and increased awareness among farmers will help to maintain breed purity, conserve and improve these important draught cattle germplasms of South India.

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“…For example, 55% of the smallholder farmers in Swaziland rely on draft animal power for land cultivation, and more than 88% of draft animals found on the Swazi National Land are cattle (Kienzle et al 2013). In India, the significance of draught animal power has reduced greatly in the last few decades with its share in total farm power availability declining from about 78% in 1960-61 to 7% in 2013-2014 (Singh et al 2014) and expected to further reduce to around 5% by 2020 (Natarajan et al 2016). Over the years, the annual use of draught animals declined from about 1200-1800 hours to 300-500 hours per pair per year.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…and expected to further reduce to around 5% by 2020 (Natarajan et al 2016). Over the years, the annual use of draught animals declined from about 1200-1800 hours to 300-500 hours per pair per year.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Legacy of draught cattle breeds of South India: Insights into population structure, genetic admixture and maternal origin

Manomohan

Saravanan

Pichler

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The present study is the first comprehensive report on diversity, population structure, genetic admixture and mitochondrial DNA variation in South Indian draught type zebu cattle. The diversity of South Indian cattle was moderately higher. A significantly strong negative correlation coefficient of −0.674 (P<0.05) was observed between the effective population size of different breeds and their estimated FIS. The phylogeny and genetic structure analysis revealed the distinctness of Kangayam, Vechur and Punganur cattle from the rest of the zebu breeds. The results showed the influence of Hallikar breed in the development of most Mysore type cattle breeds of South India with the exception of Kangayam. Bayesian clustering analysis was performed to assess the taurine admixture in South Indian zebu cattle using purebred Jersey and Holstein-Friesian as reference genotypes. Relatively high levels of taurine admixture (>6.25%) was observed in Punganur, Vechur, Umblachery and Pulikulam cattle breeds. Two major maternal haplogroups, I1 and I2, typical of zebu cattle were observed, with the former being predominant than the later. The pairwise differences among the I2 haplotypes of South Indian cattle were relatively higher than West Indian (Indus valley site) zebu cattle. The results indicated the need for additional sampling and comprehensive analysis of mtDNA control region variations to unravel the probable location of origin and domestication of I2 zebu lineage. The present study also revealed major concerns on South Indian zebu cattle (i) risk of endangerment due to small effective population size and high rate of inbreeding (ii) lack of sufficient purebred zebu bulls for breeding and (iii) increasing level of taurine admixture in zebu cattle. Availability of purebred semen for artificial insemination, incorporation of genomic/molecular information to identify purebred animals and increased awareness among farmers will help to maintain breed purity, conserve and improve these important draught cattle germplasms of South India.

show abstract

Relevance of draught cattle power and its future prospects in India : A review

Cited by 6 publications

References 6 publications

Beef cattle production systems and constraints among subsistence farmers across the Fijian windward–leeward divide

Beef cattle production systems and constraints among subsistence farmers across the Fijian windward–leeward divide

Legacy of draught cattle breeds of South India: Insights into population structure, genetic admixture and maternal origin

Legacy of draught cattle breeds of South India: Insights into population structure, genetic admixture and maternal origin

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