Latest news with #Gir
Time of India
3 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
Gir cow recovers after complex limb surgery in Madurai
Madurai: A two-and-a-half-year-old Gir breed cow from Rajapalayam, which was undergoing rehabilitation after an intricate orthopaedic procedure performed by surgeons at the Madurai veterinary polyclinic recently, has made a complete recovery. According to the veterinary doctors, the cow, owned by farmer S Ram, sustained a transverse fracture of the left forelimb metacarpal bone three months ago when it slipped and fell inside its cowshed. Local veterinarians initially applied a plaster-of-paris cast, but within three weeks, the cow began walking with the leg bent outward, signalling non-union and misalignment of the bone. With the fracture showing excessive callus and poor healing, the case was referred to the polyclinic for expert intervention. A radiographic assessment confirmed a mid-shaft transverse break with mal-union. "Because of the delay in presentation and the deformity that already set in, realigning the fragments was extremely challenging," said C Merilraj, who led the surgical team alongside Muthuraman. The surgeons opted for a closing-wedge osteotomy to correct the axis of the limb. Under general anaesthesia, the fractured segments were realigned and stabilised using an eight-pin, multilane epoxy external skeletal fixator system incorporating 2–5 mm Steinmann pins. "This frame allowed rigid support while permitting postoperative adjustments and easier wound management," Merilraj noted. Post-operative care included daily dressing, controlled weight-bearing, and antibiotic coverage. Follow-up X-ray taken on Friday showed satisfactory callus formation and complete alignment. With healing confirmed, the external fixator was removed, and the cow has since resumed normal walking. Veterinarians said the case underscores the importance of timely referral and proper orthopaedic techniques in bigger animals like cows and buffaloes. TNN
Hans India
25-05-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Cow legacy worth preserving
Bharat's relationship with the cow is civilisational, cultural, ecological, and economic. The cow is a symbol of abundance, sustainability, and spirituality. This veneration is rooted in faith but is deeply intertwined in agrarian lifestyle, health traditions, and ecological balance. Bharatiya cow breeds with distinct traits and adaptability, are a reflection of centuries of selective breeding based on climatic conditions, geography, and community needs. Why Protect our Cow Breeds? There are more than 51 recognised indigenous cow breeds like Gir, Sahiwal, Tharparkar, Ongole, Kankrej, Hallikar, and Red Sindhi, among others. These breeds are uniquely suited to local climatic conditions and possess high immunity to tropical diseases. Unlike exotic breeds, Bharatiya breeds are low-maintenance, drought-resistant, and require less feed, making them ideal for small and marginal farmers. In 2023–24, Bharat has exported cow dung products worth ₹386 crore, including fresh dung (₹125 crore), fertilizers (₹173.67 crore), and compost manure (₹88.02 crore), driven by rising global demand for organic farming. Key importers include the U.S., Maldives, Singapore, China, and Gulf nations. Cow dung enhances soil fertility and supports sustainable agriculture. Additionally, indigenous cattle breeds are in demand abroad for their resilience. Embryos of the Kankrej breed earned ₹2 crore in exports to Brazil, while an Ongole breed bull was sold for a record ₹40 crore, highlighting the global value of Bharat's indigenous cattle genetics. There is an enormous contribution of cows to all beings on the planet, for instance, the Amrit Mahal is a distinguished draught cattle breed from Karnataka, renowned for its exceptional strength, endurance, and historical significance. In the 16th century under the Mysore rulers, it was initially used for supply of milk. Later adapted for military logistics which was utilised as bullocks for rapid artillery movement. The breed's resilience made it invaluable for transporting heavy loads across challenging terrains. To preserve this vital genetic resource, the Mysore administration established dedicated grazing lands known as 'Amrit Mahal Kavals.' These pastures were managed by a specialised department focused on maintaining and improving the breed's quality. Native contribution extends beyond agriculture to include livelihood generation, natural resource management, and climate resilience. These hardy breeds thrive in high temperatures and water-scarce, rugged terrains, making them ideal for climate-adaptive rural development. The A2 milk contains beta-casein protein, which is easier to digest and offers greater health benefits than the A1 milk from exotic breeds. Their dung and urine serve as natural fertilizers, integral to organic farming, Panchagavya, and traditional Ayurvedic medicine. Economically, they support dairy, draught power, manure-based enterprises, and byproducts like biogas. Culturally, cows symbolise ahimsa (non-violence) and seva (service), and remain central to festivals, rituals, and folklore. Protecting native breeds preserves biodiversity and also enhances rural livelihoods and ensures sustainable cow-based economies. Human-Cow bonding in Bharatiyatha Cow was never perceived as a milk production being, it was of the family, offering emotional and spiritual support. From birth rituals to festivals like Govardhan Puja and Pongal, the cow is honoured as Gau Mata, a sacred mother figure. For centuries, cows have been integral to sustainable agriculture, transportation, and village economy. Grazing practices, cowherd traditions, and songs in local languages reflect the symbiotic relationship between humans and cows. This connection has shaped community values of compassion, sustainability, and coexistence with nature. Need for DNA Preservation of Native Breeds With increasing threats from indiscriminate crossbreeding and declining population of pure native breeds, it is critical to preserve the genetics of indigenous cows through DNA mapping and cryogenic storage of semen and embryos. DNA preservation is crucial for: l Retaining genetic purity and diversity. l Ensuring availability for future breeding. l Research on medicinal and nutritional benefits of native cows. l Creating a bio-resource bank for endangered breeds. Establishing breed-specific DNA libraries and genome sequencing projects will help conserve the country's unique bovine wealth. Crisis of Crossbreeding The Green Revolution and the push for higher milk yields led to the widespread crossbreeding of Bharatiya cows with exotic breeds like Jersey and Holstein Friesian. While these crossbreeds initially provided more milk, they came with several issues: l Low disease resistance in climate. l High maintenance and feed costs. l Loss of fertility and shorter productive lifespan. l Decline in native breed population due to genetic dilution. l Dependency on foreign genetics and semen imports. This has led to a serious crisis where many indigenous breeds are now under threat of extinction. The overemphasis on quantity has overshadowed quality, sustainability, and biodiversity. Protecting Bharatiya cow heritage is about preserving a way of life, a sustainable ecosystem, and a unique genetic legacy. Promoting native breeds, supporting organic cattle farming, establishing breed sanctuaries, and spreading awareness about the virtues of desi cows are vital for ensuring that the next generations inherit this invaluable heritage. In essence, preserving cow heritage is preserving Bharat's soul, where tradition and nature coalesce in harmony. (The writer is an Expert, Creative Economy)
Indian Express
04-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
At a Haryana farmstead, cows, cars and a plea for conserving indigenous breeds
How should India ensure the conservation of its indigenous cattle breeds — whether those reared for milk (Gir, Red Sindhi, Sahiwal and Tharparkar) or for both milch and draught purposes (Kankrej, Ongole, Rathi, Deoni, Hariana, Mewati and Dangi)? 'By allowing export of their frozen semen and embryos, which will make it more viable for farmers to maintain these animals and 'Breed in India',' says Madan Mohan Yadav, the president of the International Federation of Indigenous Zebu Cattle of India (IFIZCI). Exports of both live bovine and their germplasm from India are under the 'restricted list', while allowed only against licence issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade on the recommendation of the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying. It's the latter restriction, on export of cattle germplasm, that Yadav is wanting to be relaxed, if not removed. Yadav and his brother Krishna Mohan have a 150-acre farm, Gir Amritphal Gaushala, spread over Harchandpur and Nimoth villages of Sohna tehsil in Haryana's Gurugram district. It has 930 cows, calves and bulls in all — 750 Gir, 150 Nari (a dual-purpose breed native to Rajasthan and Gujarat) and 10 each of Red Sindhi, Hariana and Punganur (a dwarf hill breed believed to have descended from Ongole cattle). The animals are housed in 40 acres of covered gaushala space. They are kept untied, machine-milked and fed largely on fodder grown in the remaining 110 acres. These include Super Napier (a perennial grass) and jowar (sorghum) during May-July, rajka (lucerne) during August-November and fodder from carrot, chukandar (beetroot), shalgam (turnip) and moringa during December-April. 'This is a loss-making activity,' admits Yadav, whose main business is a 3,500-vehicle fleet transportation company, Deneb & Pollux Tours and Travels, apart from a boutique hotel in Udaipur and restaurant in Gurugram. The 51-year-old is also a collector of vintage cars — he owns 374 of them, besides 109 heritage motorcycles and 55 antique tractors. 'I have two 'C' or 'G' passions: Cows and Cars or Gai and Gaadi,' he declares. Milk yields from indigenous cows are only 1,500-2,000 kg per year for Kankrej, Red Sindhi and Tharparkar, 2,000 kg-plus for Gir and 2,500 kg or more for Sahiwal, and below 1,000 kg from other breeds. They also take upwards of 36 months to start giving milk. This is as against yields of 4,000-5,000 kg from crossbreeds and 7,000-8,000 kg from pure Holstein Friesian (HF) cows, with only 24-27 months age at first calving. Farmers cannot make much money from the sale of milk or dung produced by indigenous cattle. That is where rearing for breeding purposes, that is marketing of their semen and embryos, comes in. 'Current guidelines virtually rule out exports. They can at least open up export of frozen embryos and semen, which will create a new market for farmers and incentivise them to rear our indigenous zebu (Bos indicus) breeds,' points out Yadav. He sees a 'huge demand' for the germplasm (semen and embryos) of Indian breeds, especially in Latin American countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama and Honduras. With modern multiple ovulation and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) technology, an indigenous breed cow can be made to release 10-15 ova (eggs) from her ovaries in a single oestrous cycle. Taking 10-11 such cycles a year, 100-150 ova can be flushed out and fertilised by sperms from the semen of an equally proven indigenous breed bull in a lab dish. The resultant embryos can be preserved in liquid nitrogen at minus 196 degrees Celsius for sale in frozen form. 'A farmer can supply 50-100 frozen embryos from an animal every year, with each of these fetching between $500 and $5,000, depending on the pedigree of the cow and the bull. Even from selling 50 embryos at a price of $500, he would realise $25,000 or over Rs 21 lakh,' claims Yadav. Frozen semen, too, can fetch anywhere from $7 to $500 per dose if it is from bulls whose lineage (pedigree) is well-documented across multiple generations. Brazil is home to the world's largest cattle population, at 238.6 million. That's ahead of India's 193.5 million. Interestingly, an estimated 80% of Brazil's milk production comes from the 'Girolando' dairy cattle breed, created by crossing Gir from India with HF (originally from Netherlands and Germany). The Gir itself came from a bull named 'Krishna', who belonged to Krishna Kumarsinhji Gohil, the erstwhile Maharaja of Bhavnagar (now in Gujarat), who gifted it to Brazilian cattle breeder Celso Garcia Cid in 1960. The Brazilians similarly crossed Kankrej, which they called Guzerá (derived from Gujarat), with HF to develop the 'Guzolando' dairy cattle breed. The objective again was to combine the heat stress-tolerant, tropical disease-resistant and high-feed use efficiency traits of Indian Bos indicus breeds with the superior milk yield potential of HF. Even with regard to beef cattle, more than 80% of Brazil's animals are either pure-bred Ongole (called 'Nelore' there) or crossed with the Aberdeen Angus breed of Scotland. The import of Kankrej and Ongole cattle into Brazil dates back to the late 1860s. Equally significant is the 'Brahman' beef cattle, bred in the United States since 1885 using Gir, Guzerá/Kankrej, Nelore/Ongole and other Bos indicus stock imported at various times from Britain, India and Brazil. There's an American Brahman Breeders Association at Bryan, Texas that was founded in 1924. 'We were exporting live cattle from our indigenous zebu breeds (which have a distinct hump above their shoulders, unlike the Bos taurus breeds like HF and Aberdeen Angus adapted to cooler climates) to Brazil and other countries till 1962. It was stopped and put in the restricted list after that,' explains Yadav. Indian zebu cattle farmers can benefit from breeding these animals here and supplying their germplasm to ranchers in Latin America or US. 'Those countries use advanced techniques (IVF, multiple ovulation and embryo transfer), but have a limited genetic stock of bulls — even 100-year-old semen — now to breed from. Since that leads to problems of inbreeding, they want fresh blood, which we can supply,' notes Yadav. His organisation, IFIZCI, has tied up with Brazil's ABCZ (Associação Brasileira dos Criadores de Zebu). The collaboration aims at exchange of pure Indian Zebu genetics, technology, knowledge and best practices in cattle breeding adopted by Brazil, with a focus on Gir, Ongole/Nelore, Red Sindhi and Kankrej/Guzerá breeds. Incidentally, ABCZ's president Gabriel Garcia Cid is the grandson of the same man who brought the 'Krishna' Gir bull from the last princely ruler of Bhavnagar, sparking Brazil's dairy genetics revolution. IFIZCI and ABCZ plan to establish state-of-the-art genetic laboratories — one in Gurugram and the other at Rajkot or Porbandar in Gujarat. These facilities will provide DNA testing and other services at cost to farmers, who seek to register their breeding bulls and cows across recognised zebu breeds. 'We will also prepare herdbooks or breed registries that give complete information on the pedigree of each animal. That will help our farmers fetch a better value for the semen or embryo supplied by them,' adds Yadav, whose organisation boasts 13,000-plus members comprising dairy farmers, breeders and livestock advisors. The Brazilian example may be worth emulating here too. The first zebu animals were officially registered there in 1938, when the herdbook for Guzerá was initiated. The number of pure-bred Nelore cattle registered in Brazil is above five million today. Their centre of origin, India, has a long way to go.
