HYDERABAD: Not unlike other native Indian cattle breeds, the Sahiwal cows that Telangana plans to rear for its milk production, are on the verge of extinction. “People are not able to get Sahiwal cows anymore,” Dr Ramachandra Reddy, of the Karimnagar Veterinary College, tells Express.
At present, the major reason the native breeds of cattle are moving towards extinction in the country is their massive exports abroad. “Our Indian cattle like Gyr and Ongole bulls are taken by countries like Brazil to develop beef through IVF and other technologies. Seventy per cent of Ongole cattle is used to prepare beef,” noted Dr Ramachandra Reddy.
However, a look at the past reveals another reason these breeds were preferred for export. Earlier, farmers were reluctant to keep the native cattle breeds as they did not produce enough milk. As the website of the Animal Husbandry department notes, “Most of the indigenous breeds of cattle (in India) excel in draught capacity.” Draught cattle were used to pull heavy loads or plow until latest farm machinery soon replaced them with their greater efficiencies.
Meanwhile, cross-breeding and low-quality fodder also played their part in exacerbating the situation.
At present, the Ongole variety of cattle is also endangered and the process of its revival is underway at Guntur, informed Dr Brahmaiya, a gynaecology expert under the Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Tirupati
As for Punganur cattle breed, its revival is taking place at National Kamdhenu Breeding Centre in Nellore.
Vanishing population
In the summary of a 2016 survey sent out to various State governments regarding the rearing policies followed for native cattle breeds, the Animal Husbandry ministry noted, “In AP, Ongole pure-breds and Punganur breed have almost vanished. Even Haryana informs of a dwindling population of its Sahiwal cows”
Equipment unavailable
It is going to take another three to four months for the project to take off. Most of the equipments like the inverted fluorescence microscope, mixed gas incubators are not available in India and need to be imported