SriSri Tarasaranam
Prasanga
Political Support & Recognition
In India, Politicians are the gopta of Kamadhenu. They are the Pani of Rksamhita who tol the cows ofdawn an hid them in caves until Purandara or the Param Purusha smote them with vajra and freed the cows, gaam, i.e. pashyanti & vaikhari vak.
But just as as Kapardi is madana-dahana, Krishna is madana-mohana. Therefore UPAYA-KAUSHALYAM, mithi baaton se kamadhenu ko uddhaar Paniyon ke mushthi se karna padega
Politicians need to be convinced that they will be made to look GOOD with this project, t every level
A. 1. Local
A. 2. Bhubaneshwar
A. 3. Delhi- MP discretionary fund
Bolangir Charter:
AGRICULTURE:
1. A policy to improve irrigation coverage of the district through multiple funding sources & tagging of various government schemes to enhance irrigation coverage in low irrigated & drought prone areas on a priority basis. The following blocks are mentioned in order of their priority. They are: Bangomunda, Titilagarh, Muribahal, Tureikela & Belpada.
2. Functional government employment programmes like NREGA in all the blocks to arrest migration to urban centres, particularly in the lean season (December to May of next year).
3. A policy level clarity to implement NREGA even in private lands to create assets that adds to agriculture.
4. Creation of agricultural based industries to generate local employment & improvement of income of the people of the area. Special packages under different schemes including in PMRY.
5. It should also create a centre of excellence to help youth & farmers to set up agri based industries.
HEALTH:
1. Make all hospitals as per IPHS standards & ensure filling up of vacancy of medical personnel in remote areas to improve health service delivery.
TOURISM:
1. Declaration of “Harishankar “as a tourist place & creation of infrastructure to make it attractive. To train local youths & people to promote tourism & income from tourism activities.
2. Improvement of the condition of National Highway no 217 and 201 whose condition has detoriated after taking over by NH authorities. This will draw tourists from different parts of the state & from outside.
3. Immediate extension of Bhubaneswar – Balangir intercity train upto Titilagarh and Ispat express to Kantabanji to improve communication. The doubling of Titilagarh – Sambalpur & Titlagarh – Raipur railway line will add traffic volume of the constituency. Since kanatabanji has more than 600 acres of railway land, the railways should set up an ancillary industry to promote employment of youths.
EDUCATION:
1. Special education programmes for illiterates in the rural areas, in non working hours. The government should promote functional literacy & vocational training in a big way to mainstream women & youth.
ACCESS:
1. The MP should open a grievance redressal mechanism at the constituency level & it would be mandatory for the MP to generate a status report each year of the grievances made by the people. MPs should participate in consultative process each year & take the opinions of civil society in important matters & policy.
2. Strict implementation of the law to bar criminals & history sitters from contesting elections & each political party must be mandated to field 15% youths & 30% women as candidates in each parliamentary election.
http://allindiapeoplesmanifesto.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/bolangir-charter/
Poverty politics
PRAFULLA DAS
in Bhubaneswar
WITH Orissa readying for the three-tier panchayati raj elections scheduled for February, a fresh round of political blame game has begun over the tribal-dominated Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput (KBK) region's continued backwardness.
Various ongoing welfare and development measures, including the Revised Long-Term Action Plan (RLTAP), have failed to improve the socio-economic conditions of the people. No serious effort has been made to understand the reasons for the failure of the RLTAP to bring any perceptible change to the region, which is known for its low literacy level and abject poverty. According to official figures, a total outlay of Rs.6,251.08 crores was envisaged for KBK under the RLTAP, covering a project period of nine years, from 1998-99 to 2006-07. The funds were to be utilised for the development of agriculture, horticulture and irrigation; afforestation; drought-proofing through watershed development; providing health care, drinking water and rural connectivity; emergency feeding; and the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. In spite of this, the percentage of families living below the poverty line (BPL) has shown an increasing trend.
The 1991 Census had indicated that 71.40 per cent of the families in the KBK districts were below the poverty line. The Central government's National Sample Survey conducted in 1999-2000, however, showed that about 78 per cent of the rural people of these districts belonged to the BPL category as against the State average of 47.15 per cent.
The KBK region accounts for 19.72 per cent of the State's population and over 30.59 per cent of its geographical area. The KBK region was divided in 1992 to form eight districts - Kalahandi, Nuapada, Bolangir, Sonepur, Nawrangpur, Malkangiri, Koraput and Rayagada.
The people of the region, with 38.72 per cent of them belonging to various tribal communities, suffer from high morbidity on account of under-nutrition and endemic diseases such as malaria, according to the latest economic survey of the State government. In fact, in August the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) expressed distress over the failure of the State in dealing with the menaces of malaria and diarrhoea in the region. It recommended the extension of the RLTAP beyond March 2007 to achieve the ultimate objective of drought-proofing, poverty alleviation and improving the quality of life of the people. The Commission has been monitoring the development programmes for KBK since 1996 under a Supreme Court mandate.
Out of the total 80 community development blocks, 49 are regarded as very backward and 28 as backward. Only three - Karlamunda in Kalahandi, Dunguripali in Sonepur and Podia in Malkangiri - are treated as "developing" blocks. The State has 314 blocks in 30 districts.
All the KBK districts are ecologically disturbed. More than 50 per cent of the forest cover in these districts has degraded, aggravating the problem of poverty. Road connectivity remains a major constraint, making access to markets, health care and educational institutions difficult.
The literacy level continues to be abysmal. The literacy rate stands at 36.58 per cent compared with the State average of 63.61 per cent. More than 60 per cent of the girls in the region marry below the age of 18 as against the national average of 36.80 per cent.
Although numerous schemes have been implemented, employment opportunities continue to be limited. Since agriculture, the main economic activity, does not generate enough employment, the region has been witnessing large-scale distress migration. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) will face an acid test in KBK in the coming months if trains passing through the region continue to be packed to capacity with people migrating to work in brick kilns in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The current hullabaloo over the KBK region started in August with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik blaming the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre for the gross neglect of the region. He alleged that the Centre had decided to discontinue the RLTAP. (However, a visiting Planning Commission team raised hopes by reiterating that the plan would continue.) Stating that the funds for KBK would now flow from the Backward Region Grants Fund (BRGF), resulting in a decrease of Rs.120 crores a year, Patnaik announced a Rs.600-crore plan, Biju KBK Yojana, to supplement the RLTAP.
While smaller parties described Patnaik's action as an attempt to help the ruling Biju Janata Dal strengthen its base in KBK and hide his failures, the Congress, the main Opposition party, was caught unawares. State Congress leaders approached Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and requested him to visit Orissa. Although Manmohan Singh failed to tour the KBK region owing to inclement weather, in Bhubaneswar he tried to set the records straight by saying that there was no question of his government neglecting KBK. "We will continue to give Rs.250 crores [a year] for the next six years to the KBK districts. This is in comparison to the Rs.700 crores given by the National Democratic Alliance government and Rs.500 crores given by us in two years [of rule]."
Manmohan Singh said the Centre would "fully support" all efforts for the development of the KBK districts and the rest of Orissa. "If the State wants any special rules for KBK districts, we will consider it."
While politicians thrive by making tall promises from time to time and bureaucrats in New Delhi and Bhubaneswar confine themselves to framing policies, the talk of the administration adopting a pro-poor approach at the ground level remains a subject of discussion in seminars and review meetings.
Frontline: Volume 23 - Issue 26 :: Dec. 30, 2006-Jan. 12, 2007
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2326/stories/20070112001404400.htm
Vast stretches of Orissa, especially the western and southern districts of Bolangir, Kalahandi, Nawapara, Koraput, Jharsuguda and Ganjam, have been struck by drought. Scanty rainfall and long dry spells have parched large parts of the state. Cracked farmland and bare trees have become a common sight. With the mercury hovering at around 45 degrees Celsius, groundwater levels have dipped alarmingly. Tanks, wells and tube-wells in the region are all going dry.
The immediate problem in the region is scarcity of drinking water. The crisis is particularly acute in Berhampur and Titlagarh, chief minister Naveen Patnaik admitted recently in public.
The 50 km long pipeline from the Bhanjanagar water reservoir no longer carries water to Berhampur town because the reservoir has gone dry. Similarly, the 50 km long pipeline from Sonepur to Bolangir fails to transport water to its destination because villagers on the way have punctured the pipe to meet their own water demand.
The result is that people in Bolangir, Kalahandi, Titlagarh and Koraput have to trek miles to fetch a pot of water. Water riots have become common in these towns. In Berhampur, water demand is so high that it is being sold in sachets.
Nature alone is not to blame for the mess, though. The state government is equally responsible. The Bolangir and Ganjam districts face drinking water problems every summer. But no state government has taken any permanent measure against the problem. The minister for industries in the state, K B Singhdeo, says the state's drinking water project suffers from inadequate finances because funds get siphoned off at several places. And what funds do percolate down, are not utilised properly, he adds.
Singhdeo, whose wife, Sangita Singhdeo, is the Lok Sabha member from Bolangir, points out that the Rs 19 lakh sanctioned in 1998 from the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Fund for the drinking water supply project in Kantabanji, in Bolangir district, are yet to be spent. Similarly, the Rs 10 lakh sanctioned for Patnagarh town, also in Bolangir, are yet to be utilised. The government's insensitivity gets highlighted by the fact that the Public Health Department has adjusted the Rs 6 lakh that the Patnagarh local body had deposited for the construction of an overhead tank against its tax arrears.
Singhdeo's party colleague, Balgopal Mishra, a BJP MLA from Luisingha constituency in Bolangir, complains that government officials are complicating the situation by spreading misinformation. Government records show that 7,767 of the total 8,112 tube-wells in the region are functioning. But in reality, 50 per cent of the tube-wells are running dry, he emphasises.
The government seems to be keener on getting funds from the Centre than in mitigating the people's misery, he adds. This is illustrated by the fact that recently, the state finance minister dug out the KBK (Koraput, Bolangir and Kalahandi) Districts Long Term Action Plan file to reiterate the demand for Rs 5527.41 crore from the Centre for the all-round development of the three districts, which are the most backward in the country. Chief minister Patnaik rushed to New Delhi and sought financial assistance from the Centre to dig 4,000 tube-wells in areas experiencing drinking water shortage and Rs 2 crore for supply of water by tankers. He even appealed to the railway ministry to help transport water to the drought-hit parts of his state.
But the problem seems to be more of mismanagement than lack of money. The water that was carried to Berhampur town in a train reeked of diesel and had to be thrown away since it was unfit for human consumption.
Naveen Patnaik has been known as Pani Babu (Water Sir) in southern Orissa ever since he solved the water problem of the Askh Lok Sabha constituency, which has elected him thrice to office. Only time will tell whether he can repeat this performance in other districts of the state.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
http://www.financialexpress.com/old/fe/daily/20000514/fec14032.html
Know your politicians: who won, who lost, who is happy, unhappy, why, what pressure points exist [my note]
Sea change in Balangir politics
THE ENSUING assembly and Parliamentary elections in the Balangir constituency has triggered an unusual interest among voters this time. It is going to be a triangular fight between the BJP, BJD and Congress after the BJP and BJD alliance was broken unilaterally by the BJD, hoping for a clear majority without an ally.
The important aspect of the Lok Sabha election here is that there is a direct fight among the members of the Balangir royal family. Kalikesh Narayan Singhdeo of BJD and Congress stalwart and deputy leader of the opposition in Orissa assembly, Narasingh Mishra are contesting against sitting BJP MP. Sangeeta Kumari Singhdeo. Sangeeta Singhdeo is seeking re-election for the fourth time from here. Mishra is well a known advocate and has been a popular mass leader of the area. The electorate this time is in a state of confusion after the split between the BJP and BJD. This situation is indicating a clear victory for the Congress. However, the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to win this seat. Several national leaders of BJP including LK Advani, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and Dream girl Hemamalini has already toured this constituency. For the Congress, Rahul Gandhi has campaigned in this area. BJD has only got Naveen Pattanaik to campaign for it.
The contest for the Balangir assembly seat is no less interesting this time as the BJP has fielded Base Pati who joined the party after being denied a ticket by the Congress. The BJD heavyweight and Works Minister AU Singhdeo is seeking re-election from this seat for the fifth time. Congress has fielded Laxman Kumar Meher, a well known Congress leader and former Chairman of Deogan Block.
The centre of attraction of the election this time in Balangir district is the Titilagarh assembly seat. After the delimitation, the Saintala assembly constituency was abolished and this area came under the Titilagarh assembly segment. The Gudvela block, which was under the Sonepur assembly segment before, has been added to the Titilagarh assembly constituency. Jogendra Behera, sitting BJD MLA is seeking re-election for the fifth time. However, after the delimitation, it will not be an easy task for him this time.
Also, there is a feeling of discontent among the local leaders who were hoping to get the party ticket for this assembly segment. Congress has fielded Surendra Singhbhoi, a former minister. BJP has fielded Santanu Nayak, a popular leader known for his campaign against the “Bali Pratha” i.e. the “Animal Sacrifice” in the famous “Sulia Yatara” in the area.
Another important assembly segment is Patnagarh. For the first time, there is a direct fight between the two members of the same family, in this seat. BJP heavyweight and former Urban Development Minister KV Singhdeo is seeking re-election from here for the fourth time. BJD has fielded Prakriti Devi, the wife of Singhdeo’s younger brother. It can spoil the electoral prospect of Singhdeo. Congress has again fielded former MLA Bibek Meher.
The Kantabanji assembly segment has got a new BJP candidate, Ajay Das, the Balangir district BJP president and popular Hindutva leader. BJD has fielded the sitting independent MLA, Ayaub Khan on its party ticket. Congress has fielded the former MLA Santosh Singh Saluja (Kuku Singh).
http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=15765558
NPCBB (National Project on Cattle and Buffalo Breeding)
Brief note on National Project on Cattle and Buffalo Breeding (NPCBB)
In order to intensify the Cattle and Buffalo Development in the State of Orissa having the strategy for building rural economy and to reduce the rising trend of un-employment situation in the State, Govt of India has been launched “National Project on Cattle and Buffalo Breeding Programme” (NPCBB) with 100% grant-in-aid assistance.
To implement the above said project a State Implementing Agency (SIA) namely “Orissa Livestock Resources Development Society” (OLRDS) has been formed as per the instruction of Govt. of India for smooth and speedy execution of Project work.
Objectives of the Project :
§ Timely supply of AI inputs to the field AI centres by strengthening LN2 bulk transport and storage and distribution system.
§ Conversion of static AI centres to mobile.
§ Conversion of non doing AI centres to AI centres.
§ Training of AI workers, professional & Go-Mitra.
§ Strengthening of bull stations.
§ Identification of bull mothers in the field by introducing field recording system.
§ Supply of bulls for natural service in inaccessible areas.
§ Strengthening of Orissa Biological Products Institute (OBPI)
§ Director Orissa Biological Product Institute Bhubaneswar & Nodal Officer, N.P.R.E., Orissa Phone-(0671)2614478(O),94370-90888(M)
§ Commissioner-cum-Secretary to Govt. Fisheries & Animal Resources Development Department &Chairman, State Project Steering CommitteeN.P.R.E., OrissaPhone – 2536985/2322960(O), Fax-(06747)-2400681
§ Director, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services , Orissa, Cuttack. &State Project Co-coordinator & Chairman, State Project Management Unit NPRE, Orissa Phone-(0671)261629(O), Fax- (0671)2614739,(0674) 2407600 (R)
Swarna Jayanti Grama Swarozgar Yoyana (SGSY)
This scheme has been introduced since 1.4.99 where there is a great scope for finance under A.H. sector like Dairy, Sheepery, Goatery, Poultry etc in our State. Here priority has been given on group mode of finance to SHG members consisting of 10-20 members rather than individual mode of finance and maximum subsidy provided to SHG group is Rs.1.25 lakhs.
PMRY
Under PMRY finance different Animal Husbandry Schemes are operating in the state to establish the unemployed youths through gainful activities.
The application should have minimum Qualification matriculate and above and not employed. The selection of the entrepreneurs done by District Industries Centre for a particular activity and the beneficiary has to mortgage his/her Certificate to avail the loan. For this PMRY loan the quantum of loan is Rs. 1,00,000 and the eligible subsidy amount is maximum to Rs. 7500. The subsidy amount borne by DIC of concerned District.
Under this Scheme the poultry and Dairy loan are available to unemployed youth of our State.
KSK
As per the Agriculture Policy Rule-6 of 1996 the Capital investment subsidy 20% is available to prospective entrepreneurs of the state under Dairy and poultry sector. The minimum unit size under broiler farming is 4000 and above capacity, under layer sector it is 10,000 and above capacity, under Dairy sector 20 milch animals and above.
The modalities to avail this finance, the entrepreneur have to apply the District Krushi Sahayak Kendra (KSK) in prescribed form. The application is scrutinized in that forum where the District Agriculture Officer is the Chairperson and different line Dept. as members. The said committee scrutinizes the application on its merit, then sponsor the applications to the Bank, desired by the entrepreneur for finance and the recommendation of the line Dept. also sought for the purpose.
When the line Dept. recommends and Bank satisfied, the farmer is financed and Bank claims for release the subsidy against the borrower. The maximum ceiling of subsidy is 20 lakhs per cent.
Venture Capital Fund
As per the Agriculture Policy Rule-6 of 1996 the Capital investment subsidy 20% is available to prospective entrepreneurs of the state under Dairy and poultry sector. The minimum unit size under broiler farming is 4000 and above capacity, under layer sector it is 10,000 and above capacity, under Dairy sector 20 milch animals and above.
The modalities to avail this finance, the entrepreneur have to apply the District Krushi Sahayak Kendra (KSK) in prescribed form. The application is scrutinized in that forum where the District Agriculture Officer is the Chairperson and different line Dept. as members. The said committee scrutinizes the application on its merit, then sponsor the applications to the Bank, desired by the entrepreneur for finance and the recommendation of the line Dept. also sought for the purpose.
When the line Dept. recommends and Bank satisfied, the farmer is financed and Bank claims for release the subsidy against the borrower. The maximum ceiling of subsidy is 20 lakhs per cent.
E) OMFED:
The operation flood programme implemented by OMFED, dairy development has been taken-up in undivided districts of Puri, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar and Sambalpur. The programme has been extended to Ganjam and Gajapati district with the help of externally aided Indo-Swiss project. In addition to this , 7 Dairy Projects for women are in operation in the undivided districts of Cuttack, Keonjhar, Balasore, Ganjam, Puri, Dhenkanal & Sambalpur under STEP (Support to training and employment programme) for women with full assistance of Department of Women and Child Development, Government of India. Nearly 55,000 rural women have been benefitted through Women Primary Milk Producers Co-operative Societies and will be instrumental in augmenting milk production in the State. Besides, IDDP phase IV programme is being implemented by OMFED in the districts of Jajpur,Angul & Ganjam with financial assistance from Government of India.
§ OMFED has taken steps to expand the capacity of Bhubaneswar Dairy Plant from 75,000 LPD to 1,25,000 LPD.
OMFED has 2.15 lakhs LPD capacity processing plant within its operation area and carrying on marketing of milk and milk products in 45 towns of the state. Apart from this it is extending its marketing of surplus milk to the tune of 20000 ltrs a day to Kolkata, Andhra Pradesh & Chhatisgarh. The daily milk marketing is on average 1.48 lakhs liter having an annual turnover of more than 70 crores.
§ The Integrated Dairy Development Project is in operation in 14 non operation flood districts in hilly and backward areas of the State since 1994-95 through central assistance. Infrastructures have been built-up to provide chilling & processing facilities for milk collected in remote places.
§ In the non-operation flood districts, 14 District Milk Unions and 745 MPCS have been organized. 7 Dairy Plants, 9 Chilling Plants and 48 Bulk Cooler Units are functioning. The work for establishment of 10,000 liters per day capacity Dairy Plant at Bhawanipatna and installation of 14 Bulk Cooler Units in different areas of the state are in progress. In the mean while as per Government decision, the management of the District Milk Unions have been handed over to the OMFED for revitalization of Milk Union activities for enhancing milk procurement and marketing of milk.
UTKAL GOMANGAL SAMITI
The Utkal Gomangal Samiti is one of the oldest Non-Government Organization set up in the State during the year 1936. It is a Society Registered under Society Registration Act The aim and objective of the Society is to bring all round development of the Livestock through up gradation of local indigenous stock by providing improved Bulls, Cows, Calves etc. and propagation of different kinds of fodder, cattle feed and encourage the public for the same. The Schemes are managed from the grants - in -aid provided by the Government of Orissa F & ARD Department. The achievement UGS during the last 5 years is indicated below.
G) Heifer Foundation
1015 Louisiana St., P.O. Box 727, Little Rock, AR 72203
T: (888).422.1161 | E-mail: Info@heiferfoundation.org
http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.485969/
Helen Keller International
“A world free of our worst foes: Ignorance, Poverty & Greed.”
80% of blindness worldwide is preventable. Poor nutrition is implicated in the death of over 5 million children every year.
Research that leads to sustainable solutions.
In-depth assessments are a vital component of HKI's programs, enabling HKI to assist other organizations in monitoring and evaluating program results.
.
Homestead Food Production
Homestead Food Production (HFP) helps communities establish technically improved local food production systems by creating gardens with micronutrient-rich fruits and vegetables year-round as well as small farms for poultry and livestock. The fruits and vegetables ensure the availability of vitamins and minerals essential for proper immune system function and full physical, intellectual and cognitive development, while eggs, poultry and other animal foods support the body's ability to utilize the micronutrients. HFP also provides families with income from the sale of surplus goods, empowers women, and increases the technical knowledge and capacity of local non-governmental organizations (NGOs). HKI has implemented HFP in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Niger, Nepal and the Philippines.
HKI provides technical and managerial support as well as start-up inputs, such as seeds, seedlings, saplings and chicks, to district-level local NGOs who integrate HFP into their on-going activities. Local NGO staff train farmers and help them create Village Model Gardens and Village Model Poultry Farms. In turn, these “model farmers” provide technical assistance and inputs to individual families in their villages. HKI also provides nutrition education that focuses on dietary diversity and child and maternal nutrition, cooking classes, and training on agricultural and poultry production.
In addition to food that improves nutritional status, HFP often provides surplus produce that becomes a small but vital source of income to families. This additional income helps families move out of poverty and gain economic independence. Program evaluations indicate this income is most often spent on other high-quality food items, and that income-generation has been sustained after HKI's direct support has phased out.
HFP also empowers women who organize 90% of the gardens and are able to contribute to the economic stability of the family and associate with other farmers. According to the Country Director of HKI Bangladesh, "investments in homestead gardens provide huge returns to empower the most valuable resource in Bangladesh: women working tirelessly for their families." These women also tend to make sure that their children consume the nutritious vegetables grown in the gardens. Studies have shown, in fact, that children in households with developed gardens consume 1.6 times more vegetables and have a lower risk of night blindness than children in homes without homestead gardens.
1) Early maturing Jackfruit
2) Fig
3) Vining Sweet Potato leaves, dual purpose green leaf + orange flesh
4) Vitis spp.
5) Citrus
6) Cajanus for green pod
7) Aracea: Colocasia, Xanthosoma for leaf
8) Lagenaria & Amarnthus for leaf
Orange-fleshed Sweetpotato
HKI has added the introduction and promotion of the orange-fleshed sweetpotato, OFSP, to its efforts in sub-Saharan Africa to improve nutrition, child, and maternal survival in countries severely affected by vitamin A deficiency. This variety, as opposed to the traditionally grown white-fleshed sweetpotatoes, has high levels of beta carotene that the body converts into vitamin A. Recent research has shown that just 125 grams of one variety of OFSP provides primary school children with over twice the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A. HKI's programs increase the awareness of consumers and producers about the importance of vitamin A-rich foods for adequate infant and young children's nutrition through a comprehensive nutrition education campaign and increase the demand for the OFSP and its products with social marketing campaigns
Mennonite Central Committee
Mennonite Christian Service Fellowship of India (MCSFI).
MCC focuses its community development work on eastern Indian states of West Bengal, Orissa…
Hopes for peace in Orissa
Tim Shenk
June 1, 2009
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is promoting peace in Orissa by sponsoring workshops on peace and reconciliation and helping local leaders receive specialized training in these areas. MCC is planning to sponsor two Brethren in Christ church leaders from Orissa to attend Henry Martyn Institute, a school of interfaith relations in the Indian city of Hyderabad.
On a broader scale, Mennonites and Brethren in Christ throughout India are organizing peace committees to ease tensions between different religious, political and ethnic groups in their communities. Participants from eight Mennonite and Brethren in Christ conferences will meet in Orissa from June 19 to 26 to coordinate their efforts, according to Earl Zimmerman, an MCC India representative from Harrisonburg, Va.
MCC is providing financial support to this effort, which is organized by Mennonite Christian Service Fellowship of India.
Integrate Cattle husbandry, maintenance of Indian bovine biodiversity, maintenance of soil fertility, sustainable cropping systems in a very drought-prone agro-ecosystem, among poorest in India, child & maternal nutrition, vaue addition to small & subsistence farm families
Soil Carbon, Agricultural Prodctivity & Project Kamadhenu
TRAPPING CARBON IN SOIL KEY FOR PROTECTING GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY, DEALING WITH CLIMATE CHANGE
Rattan Lal
http://soils.umn.edu/Emerging_Issues/, http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/3717.php?from=93461
http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/dirtglob.htm
http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/index.html
In the Soil Biogeochemistry & Soil Fertility Management Program, we work in a broad range of ecosystems spanning scales from nano-scale observations in soil microaggregates to global carbon cycles. We are engaged in advancing new tools for the investigation of soils such as synchrotron-based spectroscopy as well as in studying soil carbon dynamics and implications for landuse.
http://soilquality.org/home.html
http://hypography.com/forums/terra-preta/
Dr. N. Sai Bhaskar Reddy
Mobile No. 9246352018: http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/reddyprosopis
Role of cattle in maintaining soil health, soil carbon in tropical soils, high biological productivity under intensive cropping in semi-arid conditions and conserving N, P sources, see http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=SP08008.pdf
Many of the following tree crops are most relevant to seasonally arid zones, as I know from personal experience. The training provided by ICRISAT is vital.
The Desert Margins Program: ICRISAT
A groundbreaking joint program of ICRISAT and the International Program for Arid Lands Crops (IPALAC) has for the past few years been developing higher-value crops and cropping systems to help alleviate dryland poverty while enriching food supply channels to urban and export markets.
Practical exercises in the field introduced the trainees to important shrubs/trees for arid lands. Some of these are improved Zizyphus spp. (varieties include Katley, Ben Gurion, Gola, Seb and Umran) Acacia senegal (gum arabic), date palm, Hibiscus spp., Cassia sena, Tamarix spp., Ficus carica, Japtropha curcas, Moringa oleifera, Lannea microcarpa, bamboo, Saba senegalensis and Lawsonia inermis (henna). Important fruit trees encountered included different varieties of mangoes, oranges, guavas, pomegranates, Achras sapota, Annona spp., grapes, papaya and Tamarindus indica (the sweet variety).
Zizyphus Spina-Christi, Sudan (western): fruit a delicacy
Zizyphus nummularia
Zizyphus Mauritania
In Rajasthan State, India, in the region of 600 mm annual rainfall, one hectare of Zizyphus mauriritania planted at a density of 10x10 m gives an annual fruit yield of 10,000 kg, an annual yield of leaves for forage of 9,000 kg, and an annual yield of wood of 6,000 kg.
http://www.dmpafrica.net/KenyaGraftingTrainees04.htm
Biotechnology of BioFertilizers: Sadasivam Kannaiyan
Nitrogen Fixation By Tree Legumes; p.173-174
Sebania, Albizzia, Acacia, Prosopis, Leucaena- sorghum, pennisetum, cenchrus
Fig, Jackfruit, Bambusa, Opuntia, Phoenix
Hybrid Arhar
Using the CMS-based hybrid technology, pigeonpea experimental hybrids have been developed for all the three maturity groups for the crop, according to Dr KB Saxena, Principal Pigeonpea breeder at ICRISAT. While the short-duration pigeonpea varieties mature between 120 and 140 days, the medium-duration ones mature between 160 and 180 days, and the long-duration ones take more than 250 days.
The ability to survive water-scarce situations is higher for the CMS-based hybrids, since they produce 30 per cent more root mass than other varieties. This is of significance since pigeonpea is the crop of the water-scarce regions, and more crop per drop is the need of the farmers. The roots of this legume have the ability of bringing the nutrients to the top, and also fix nitrogen in the soil, thereby making it an excellent intercrop.
ICRISAT is providing for the transfer of CMS technology to ICAR, private sector seed companies and also the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
Dr. K.B. Saxena: k.saxena@cgiar.org
(RGC-936 and RGC-1003), three plant density (2.22, 3.33 and 4.44 lac ha-1) and four levels of phosphorus (0, 20, 40 and 60 kg P2O5 ha-1) was conducted on clay loam soil at Instructional Farm, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Udaipur (Rajasthan) during kharif, 2002. The variety RGC-936 recorded significantly higher plant height, branches/plant, dry matter accumulation/plant, pods/plant, seeds/pod, seed yield ((16.67 q ha-1), haulm yield (41.53 q ha-1)) and biological yield (58.21 q ha-1) compared to RGC 1003.
Parihar, C M
Kaushik, M K
Palsaniya, D R
: Annals of Agricultural Research
2005 Vol.26(No.1)
Cyamopsis- guar
Vigna trilobata-
Vigna aconitifolia – mote bean
The ramontchi is F. ramontchi L'Her. F. indica has been frequently recorded as a synonym but Indian botanists disagree and treat F. indica Merr. as a distinct species. The common name for the ramontchi in India is governor's plum; in Malaya, it is kerkup kechil or lesser kerkup; in Thailand, ta-khop-pa; in the Philippines, bitongol, bolong, or palutan; in Africa, it is called kokowi, Madagascar plum or Indian plum.
The tree is bushy and spreading but may reach 50 ft (15 m) and usually has sharp spines on the trunk and on main branches which tend to arch and droop at the tips. The evergreen, alternate leaves, red when young, are obovate to oblong-obovate, 1 to 2 in (2.5-5 cm) long and finely toothed. Male and female flowers are borne on separate trees. They are white, about 3/16 in (5 mm) wide, and appear singly or paired in the leaf axils. The fruit is round, 1/2 to 1 in (1.25-2.5 cm) thick, smooth, glossy, dark red-purple, with light-brown, acid to sweet, astringent, slightly bitter, flesh and 6 to 10 small, flat seeds.
the tree is considered useful as a tall barrier hedge or windbreak. Farmers in India lop the branches for fodder. The wood is used only for fuel.
The paniala, F. jangomas Raeusch. (syn. F. cataphracta Roxb.) is also called puneala, puneala plum, jaggam, Chinese plum, Indian plum; in Malaya, kerkup, kerkup besar, kerkup bakoh; in Thailand, ta-khop-thai; in Vietnam, mu cuon, mung quan, bo quan, and prunier malgache.
The shrub or erect, low-branched tree, 20 to 40 ft (6-12 in) high, has flaking bark and sharp spines on the trunk. The leaves are alternate, deciduous, pale pink when young, spirally arranged, oval-lanceolate, long-pointed, toothed, very thin, glossy on both surfaces; 2 to 4 in (5-10 cm) long, 1/2 to 2 in (1.25-5 cm) wide. Male and female flowers are on separate trees. They are greenish, heavily fragrant, borne in small clusters on new branchlets. The fruits are round or slightly oval, 3/4 to 1 in (2-2.5 cm) long, dark-maroon to nearly black; the flesh greenish to white or amber, varying from acid to sweet, and containing 7 to 12 flat, hard, pale-yellow seeds.
The tree is native to North Bengal, East Bengal and Chittagong in India; commonly cultivated throughout Southeast Asia, eastern Malaya, and also in the Philippines. It has been planted in a very limited way in Surinam, Trinidad, Puerto Rico and southern Florida. The seeds are slow to germinate, therefore propagation is usually by inarching or budding onto self-seedlings.
For eating out-of-hand, the fruit is rolled between the hands to reduce astringency, and is better-liked than that of other species. It is stewed as dessert, made into juice, sirup, jam, marmalade and pickles and also used in chutneys. When slightly underripe, it is used to make jelly. The acid young shoots are eaten in Indonesia.
Philippine analyses show: moisture, 78.28%; protein, 0.03%; fat, 0.39%; sugar, 4.86%; ash, 0.94%; acidity, 1.16%. The fruit is fairly rich in pectin; contains 9.9% tannin on a dry-weight basis.
The wood, red or scarlet, is close-grained, hard, brittle, durable and polishes well. It is used for agricultural implements.
The fruits are eaten to overcome biliousness, nausea and diarrhea. The leaf decoction is taken to halt diarrhea. Powdered, dried leaves are employed to relieve bronchitis and coughs. The leaves and bark are applied on bleeding gums and aching teeth, and the bark infusion is gargled to alleviate hoarseness. Pulverized roots are poulticed on sores and skin eruptions and held in the mouth to soothe toothache.
Carissa macrocarpa A. DC. (syn. C. grandiflora A. DC.)
A vigorous, spreading, woody shrub with abundant white, gummy sap, the carissa may reach a height of 15 to 18 ft (4.5-5.5 m) and an equal breadth. The branches are armed with formidable stout, double-pronged thorns to 2 in (5 cm) long. The handsome, evergreen, opposite leaves are broad-ovate, 1 to 2 in (2.5-5 cm) long, dark-green, glossy, leathery. Sweetly fragrant, white, 5-lobed, tubular flowers to 2 in (5 cm) broad are borne singly or a few together at the tips of branchlets all year. Some plants bear flowers that are functionally male, larger than normal and with larger anthers, and stamens much longer than the style. Functionally female flowers have stamens the same length as the style and small anthers without pollen.
The round, oval or oblong fruit, to 2 1/2 in (6.25 cm) long and up to 1 1/2 in (4 cm) across, is green and rich in latex when unripe. As it ripens, the tender, smooth skin turns to a bright magenta-red coated with a thin, whitish bloom, and finally dark-crimson. The flesh is tender, very juicy, strawberry-colored and -flavored, with flecks of milky sap. Massed in the center are 6 to 16 small, thin, flat, brown seeds, not objectionable when eaten.
Origin and Distribution
The carissa is native to the coastal region of Natal, South Africa, and is cultivated far inland in the Transvaal.
The carissa is subtropical to near-tropical, thriving throughout the state of Florida and enduring temperatures as low as 25º F (-3.89º C) when well-established. Young plants need protection when the temperature drops below 29º F (-1.67º C). Best growth is obtained in full sun.
The shrub thrives in dry, rocky terrain in Hawaii; in red clay or sandy loam in California, and in sandy or alkaline soils in Florida, though the latter may induce deficiencies in trace elements. The plant has moderate drought tolerance and high resistance to soil salinity and salt spray. It cannot stand water-logging.
Varieties
Horticulturists in South Africa, California and Florida have selected and named some types that tend to bear more reliably than others:
'Fancy', selected in California in the 1950's, was an erect form bearing an abundance of large fruits with few seeds.
'Torrey Pines' produces good crops of fruit and pollen.
'Gifford' is one of the best fruit bearers in Florida.
'Extra Sweet' was advertised in Florida in the early 1960's.
'Alles' ('Chesley') produces few fruits in California.
'Frank' is a light bearer though it has a good supply of pollen.
As space for massive barrier hedges has diminished and interest in the fruits declined, efforts have been directed to the development of dwarf, compact, less spiny types for landscape use. Some of the popular ornamental cultivars include: 'Bonsai', 'Boxwood Beauty', 'Dainty Princess', 'Grandiflora', 'Green Carpet', 'Horizontalis', 'Linkii', 'Low Boy', 'Minima', 'Nana', 'Nana Compacta', 'Prostrata' and 'Tuttlei'.
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/carissa.html
The fig tree is very productive in Sahelian countries if the rainfall is above 700 mm. Saba senegalensis and Lannea microphylla are trees producing sweet and bitter fruits. The Sclerocalaria berrea is a fruit tree which is well adapted to degraded soils.
Zizyphus & Sitaphal : http://books.google.com/books?id=EpUOGrafCNgC&pg=PA294&lpg=PA294&dq=Zizyphus+varieties+India&source=bl&ots=uDM2nAXjFO&sig=IA0W2Ys9M4bDtT9pNboxZxJBx7c&hl=en&ei=ApclSuHVA5L0MoG71YoF&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9#PPA301,M1
Zizyphus : http://www.wanatca.org.au/acotanc/Papers/Tewari-2/index.htm
GRASSES
http://www.krishiworld.com/html/for_crop_grass1.html
http://www.krishiworld.com/html/for_crop_grass2.html
http://www.krishiworld.com/html/for_crop_grass3.html
1. ERAGROSTIS HYBRIDS
Cochise, Catalina, A68, A84 lehmanni
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:LwVv6LpmoS4J:plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/azpmcrnertr23.pdf+cochise+lovegrass&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
2. Cenchrus, Lasiurus, Dichanthium
Zone Research Institute (CAZRI) Jodhpur, Rajasthan and maintained in nursery. An active variety construction programme with manifold objective is under way. A num-ber of promising cultivars have been identified.
These varieties provide high and nutritive forage over a greater part of the year.
They are drought hardy, stable, persistent and aggressive in rangeland and possess high seed yield ability, fast regeneration and good germination.
The important cultivars are:
CAZRI-358, 75, Molopo, Buffel of Cenchrus ciliaris;
76, 175, 296 of C. setigerus;
317, M-20-5, 319 of Lasiurus sindicus;
490, 491 of Dichanthium annulatum;
331, 333 of Panicum antidotale;
144, 1258, 1462, 1626 of Lablab purpureas;
752, 466, 1433 of Clitoria ternatea.
mopane and Zizyphus nummularia showed 28 to 35% survival. Maximum height was
recorded in the case of A. tortilis (291 cm) followed by A. indica (240 cm) and A. sen-
egal (175 cm) and lowest in P. cineraria (77 cm). Collar diameter recorded in A. tor-
tilis, A. indica and A. senegal was 8.21, 6.88 and 4.46 cm respectively.
Dry forage yield of Cenchrus setigerus in the interspaces between the trees was
2020 kg/ha in the plots of A. tortilis and 2500 kg/ha in A. indica. Dry forage yield of
grass under other tree species ranged from 2750 to 2980 kg/ha as against 3000 kg/ha
under pure pasture without trees. Cenchrus ciliaris (CAZRI-75) and Cenchrus seti-
gerus (CAZRI-175) were sown between rows of neem (Azadirachta indica), subabool
(Leucaena leucocephala) and Israeli babool (Acacia tortilis) planted in 1988 at 5 m ×
5 m spacing. The growth of trees were reduced, but growth of grasses were better un-
der the system. The fodder yield was more under Azadirachta indica as compared to
grass under Leucaena leucocephala and Acacia tortilis (Anonymous 1993) (Table 4).
Acacia leucophloea, A. auriculiformis, A. nilotica, A. senegal, A. tortilis, Albizzia
lebbeck, Cassia siamea, Dalbergia sissoo, Derris indica, Parkinsonia aculeata,
Prosopis cineraria and P. chilensis are some important multipurpose nitrogen fixing
trees recommended for silvipasture and rangeland development in the Thar desert (Si-
vaji et al. 1993). Under the rangeland development scheme, controlled and rotational
grazing has been introduced. Some of the areas have been reseeded with perennial and
nutritive grasses like Cenchrus ciliaris, Cenchrus setigerus, Dichanthium annulatum
and Lasiurus sindicus.
Significant achievement has been made in the mass production of nutritive fodder
‘sewan grass’ (Lasiurus sindicus) for the desert livestock. This revolutionary grass,
besides contributing in the development of good rangeland in the Thar desert, has sig-
nificantly helped in stabilizing the blowing sand dunes and expansion of the desert
(Sinha 1996). In the Jaisalmer district of Thar desert, schemes have been launched for
the cultivation of green fodder in 200 ha, pasture development in 3,000 ha, and the es-
tablishment of one hundred ‘wood lots’ and ‘nurseries’.
Village grazing lands and protected fodder lands in the Thar desert
In the earlier days, each and every desert settlement had well guarded common prop-
erty land resource such as good pasture land called ‘gochar’, and natural woodland
called ‘oran’. The ‘orans’ (Forests of God) were designated to honour village diety or
saint and are preserved meticulously on socio-religious grounds. It is like a mini ‘bio-
Discovery of new high yielding pasture grass varieties in the Thar desert
1. Cenchrus ciliaris (‘Marwar Anjan’), (CAZRI-75): It is a selection from an entry in
the germplasm received from Australia. In August 1985 CAZRI released this vari-
ety for cultivation in the arid and semi-arid parts of India. Marwar Anjan is a tall,
thick stemmed, erect and drought hardy perennial. Its leaves are broad, long,
droopy and remain green up to maturity. It has a wide adaptability, high tillering
ability and is good in regeneration. It possesses a stout root/rhizome system. It
gives 2 to 3 cuttings per year. It yields 70 quintals of green fodder and 30 quintals
of dry matter per hectare under desert conditions. It has 8% protein and about 60%
digestibility. It produces 1 to 1.5 quintal/ha seed even after one cutting of fodder. It
is persistent and aggressive variety for rangelands and remains productive for four
to five years under proper management systems. It is sown at the onset of the mon-
soon with the seed rate of 5 to 6 kg/ha (Anonymous 1988).
2. Cenchrus setigerus (‘Marwar Dhaman’), (CAZRI-175): It is a selection from exotic
material and well adopted in the arid and semi-arid regions of India. ‘Marwar
Dhaman’ is excellent for grazing purpose due to its thin stem and leafy foliage. It is
a drought hardy perennial grass which forms clumps at the base. It is an early ma-
turing variety, flowers between 45 to 55 days, high in tillering, with good regenera-
tion abilities and capable of giving 2 to 3 cuts per year under rainfed conditions. It
provides an average yield of 40 quintal/hectare green fodder and 5 quintal/hectare
dry matter in desertic regions, whereas in semi-desertic areas, the yield becomes
doubled. It contains 9.5% crude protein and has 65% digestibility at half bloom
stage. Its pasture remains productive for 4 to 5 years. It is moderately resistant to
major insect pests. (Anonymous 1988).
Acacia leucophloea, A. auriculiformis, A. nilotica, A. senegal, A. tortilis, Albizzia
lebbeck, Cassia siamea, Dalbergia sissoo, Derris indica, Parkinsonia aculeata,
Prosopis cineraria and P. chilensis are some important multipurpose nitrogen fixing
trees recommended for silvipasture and rangeland development in the Thar desert (Si-
vaji et al. 1993). Under the rangeland development scheme, controlled and rotational
grazing has been introduced. Some of the areas have been reseeded with perennial and
nutritive grasses like Cenchrus ciliaris, Cenchrus setigerus, Dichanthium annulatum
and Lasiurus sindicus.
Significant achievement has been made in the mass production of nutritive fodder
‘sewan grass’ (Lasiurus sindicus) for the desert livestock. This revolutionary grass,
besides contributing in the development of good rangeland in the Thar desert, has sig-
nificantly helped in stabilizing the blowing sand dunes and expansion of the desert
(Sinha 1996).
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:MggdYQzi62MJ:www.rala.is/rade/rade-Sinha.PDF+Zizyphus+varieties+India&cd=33&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Annona crassiflora semi-arid
B. diversifolia
Cerus repandus Peru cactus
Pithecellobium dulse
Ampelocissus latifolia Roxb.
Salvadora oleoides/persica
Capparis indica
Prosopis cineraria
OPUNTIA & CACTUS
http://www.jpacd.org/V5P30-46.pdf
India
http://www.jpacd.org/V7/V7P1-21Snym.pdf
root distribution
A study in Texas measured all the water inputs to cactus and the corresponding dry matter production (Han and Felker, 1997). Of the 662 mm of rainfall input, 143 mm was lost to runoff, 214 mm was lost to soil evaporation, and 17 mm stored in the plant. The resulting 285 mm left for growth of Opuntia ellisiana resulted in 17 670 kg of dry weight/ha for a water use efficiency of 162 kg of water/kg of dry matter. This water use efficiency is greater than that measured in the field for any C3 or C4 plant and thus emphasizes the basic physiological advantage of CAM plants in arid regions. It is also significant that the fourth-year fresh weight growth of 194 200 kg/ha contained 170 000 kg/ha of water, that would greatly reduce the water needs for livestock in drought periods. At the rate of 45 kg fresh cactus per day (discussed later), this 194 200 kg/ha would be sufficient for 4 315 days (11.8 years) of feed per cow.
Typical values for nutritional components in these studies were found to be: moisture content, 85-90%; crude protein, 5-12%; phosphorus, 0.08-0.18%; calcium, 4.2%; potassium, 2.3%; magnesium, 1.4%; energy, 2.6 Mcal/kg; carotenoids 29 µg/100 g; and ascorbic acid, 13 mg/100 g. The in vitro digestibility values were 72% for protein, 62% for dry matter, 43% for crude fibre and 67% for organic matter.
Another significant advantage of cactus for animal feed is that it is often the only source of green forage in the dry season capable of providing vitamin A precursors. Rodríguez-Felix and Cantwell (1988) reported 29 µg of carotenoids and 13 mg of ascorbic acid per 100 g of immature cladodes to be used as vegetables for humans.
The only metabolizable energy and digestibility data for cactus are for wild opuntias in Texas and Colorado. Everitt and González (1981) found that, of all species examined, although O. lindheimeri had one of the lowest protein contents (6%), it had the highest dry matter digestibility (76%). Meyer and Brown (1985) also found that O. lindheimeri had higher digestibility throughout the year than the other plants in their south Texas study area.
Data on digestible energy and protein content of the small, low growing O. polyacantha on the ranges of Colorado may serve as a useful guide to other opuntia forage species (Shoop et al., 1977). While this opuntia was lower in crude protein (5.3%) than grassland hay (5.7%) or alfalfa hay (16.8%), its digestible energy of 2.61 Mcal/kg, compared favourably to grassland hay (2.08 Mcal/kg) or alfalfa (2.64 Mcal/kg). O. polyacantha had 85% as much neutral detergent fibre and 70% as much as acid detergent fibre as alfalfa, but it contain 55% more hemicellulose and 40% more soluble carbohydrates (Shoop et al., 1977). As might be expected due to the faster growth and less lignification, O. ficus-indica was found to have greater digestible energy values, ranging from 3.32 to 3.54 Mcal/kg (Retamal et al., 1987b).
While the amino acid profile of the opuntia stems is only useful for non-ruminant nutrition, Teles et al. (1984) found the amino acid profile of immature opuntia stems to have a biological value of 72, compared to hen egg protein of 100.
Texas rancher Bill Maltsberger has spent many years developing protein and mineral supplements for his herd of 800 Santa Gertrudis cattle on 4 000 ha of rangeland south of San Antonio. Although Maltsberger routinely supplemented cactus with cottonseed meal as a protein supplement and allowed the cattle free range, there was subtle evidence of nutritional disorders. After considerable post-mortem testing of organs for trace elements, it was found that the cattle were low in copper, molybdenum and zinc. On the basis of these analyses, Maltsberger began using the supplements shown in Tables 22 and 23. Regular vitamin E injections have been also helpful after many months on this cactus diet. When cattle were fed cactus that had had its spines burned off (as discussed later) and were supplemented with protein cubes and mineral supplements, excellent weight gain, body conformation and 90% conception rates were achieved. This supplementation also seemed to reduce the percentage of abnormalities in newborn calves.
Maltsberger (1993, pers. comm.) stressed that the mineral deficiencies in his animals were not directly caused by the cactus, but were a result of the fact that during droughts cattle often have no other source of minerals and vitamins than cactus. Thus in drought periods, when no other significant quantities of forage are available for many months, it is critical to address the issue of lack of proteins and minerals.
The protein ration in Table 22 is formulated in the form of 2-cm cubes, and only fed during drought periods when no other forage is available. The mineral supplement in Table 23 contains phosphorus and calcium in the form of meat and bone meal that is not contained in the protein supplement. This mineral supplement is made available all year round regardless of drought status.
While the feed rations have been optimized for cattle, it is reasonable to expect that these rations could be easily adapted to other ruminants such as goats, sheep and deer. There are very old reports of cactus being fed to pigs. However, well-replicated trials feeding cactus to non-ruminants like pigs have not been conducted. Lukefahr and Ciro-Ruiz (pers. comm.) have succesfully fed an opuntia strain (#1270) from Brazil (Palma Redonda) to rabbits. It is interesting that rabbits did not like the nopalito variety O. cochellinifera #1308, but they liked Brazilian forage variety #1270.
Table 22. Protein supplement for cattle during droughts.
Ingredient Amount (kg)
Cottonseed meal 475
Soybean meal 450
Manganese sulphate 2.75
Zinc oxide 1.5
Copper sulphate 1.25
Vitamin E-20 3.125
Cobalt sulphate 0.080
Ethylenediamine dihydroxide (EDDI) 0.025
Selenium oxide mixture (0.02%) 0.0625
Vitamin A-30 0.45
Masonex (clay binder) 12.5
Molasses 53.25
Total 1000
Source: Data courtesy Bill Maltsberger, Rancher, Cotulla, Texas.
Table 23. Mineral supplement* for cattle for cactus supplementation
Ingredient Amount (kg)
Bone meal 450
Meat and bone meal 150
Sodium chloride 300
Manganese sulphate 22
Zinc oxide 11.5
Copper sulfate 10
Vitamin E-20 25
Cobalt sulphate 0.625
Ethylenediamine dihydroxide (EDDI) 0.20
Selenium oxide mixture (0.02%) 0.50
Vitamin A-30 3.65
Molasses 26.5
Total 1000
Note: *The mineral supplement is fed all year long.
Source: Data courtesy of Bill Maltsberger, Rancher, Cotulla, Texas.
METHODS TO INCREASE THE PROTEIN CONTENT OF CACTUS FORAGE
Fortunately, there are several techniques to increase protein content of cactus forage to minimize the cost of protein supplementation. The first method is with N and P fertilizers, since González (1989) found that crude protein in O. lindheimeri increased from 4.5% for the zero fertility treatment to 10.5% for the treatment containing 224 kg N and 112 kg P/ha. This is especially important, since this fertilization treatment raised the protein content above the requirements for dry and lactating cattle, namely 6.0 and 9.25% respectively.
Since most commercial cactus fruit orchards receive N fertilization, it is reasonable to believe that the N content of the pads from these orchards would approach the 9% protein content level. Potgieter (1997 pers. comm.) in South Africa obtained 40 ton of pads from annual pruning of cactus fruit orchards, which could be a significant source of high protein forage for livestock.
Based on the 40 kg/ha consumption of pads per animal recommended by Maltsberger (Table 24), these annual prunings would provide approximately 3 animal-years of forage per hectare.
Table 24. Daily ration for adult cow with calf
Ingredient Amount (kg)
Fresh cactus 40
Protein supplement 1.4
Mineral supplement 0.1
Source: Data courtesy of Bill Maltsberger, Rancher, Cotulla, Texas.
The second route to increased protein content of cactus forage is through the use of genetic selections containing higher protein. In a comparison of eight opuntia forage clones, Gregory and Felker (1992) found one Brazilian clone (#1270, i.e. cv. Palma Redonda) from CPATSA Petrolina, Brazil, that had over 11% protein content in all four age classes. In contrast, the Texas native opuntia had high protein in the youngest age class (11%), but only 5% protein in the three older age classes. Additionally, the Brazilian clone had four times the P content (i.e. 0.41%) of the native Texas clone.
Lastly, it is also possible that inoculation of cactus roots with the free living, nitrogen-fixing bacteria Azospirillum sp. could increase the protein content of the cladodes, since Rao and Venkateswarlu (1982), Caballero-Mellado (1990) and Mascarua-Esparza et al. (1988) found this bacterium could associate with opuntia roots. While these authors did not demonstrate N fixation from the Azospirillum in association with cactus roots, Mascarua-Esparza et al. (1988) did report a 34% increase in cactus root dry weight and a 63% increase in root N content with Azospirillum inoculation. Azospirillum inoculation may also help control the rotting of cladodes caused by Erwinia sp. that is often associated with new plantings, since laboratory culture studies have shown that Azospirillum inhibited the growth of both Xanthomonas and Erwinia.
To reduce the cost of burning cactus bushes at random in the wild, Pluenneke (1990) described systems in which cactus were planted in rows. In some special applications, such as the need to take cactus to the penned mother cows and calves, cactus has been harvested and transported short distances to animals. Specialized hand tools have been developed to first cut the cactus at the base and then to pitch it 1 m above head height onto a wagon or truck. In Texas, this cactus was then windrowed, the spines burned off and fed into a tractor-powered ensilage chopper. In Mexico, the spines were not burned off, but merely passed through the chopper before being fed to dairy cattle (Felker, unpub. obs.).
the Brazilian forage variety #1270 is specially promising as it was found to have rapid growth and nearly 10% crude protein versus 6 to 9% protein for other varieties (Gregory and Felker, 1992).
Given yearly fresh weight production rates in excess of 100 000 kg/ha after a leaf area index of 2 have been achieved, and cattle consumption rates of 40 kg/day, it would appear that at a stocking rate of 1 cow/ha, livestock could never consume cactus faster than it grows. Thus it would seem possible to plant, cultivate and care for cactus until it is about 1 m in height.
Advantages of opuntia include high biomass yield, high palatability and good nutritive value, evergreen habit, drought resistance and soil adaptability (Monjauze and Le Houérou, 1965; Le Houérou, 1992; Nefzaoui et al., 1993; Ben Salem et al., 1996). Opuntia has high contents of ash (260 g/kg DM) and water (926 g/kg fresh weight), and low contents of crude protein (58 g/kg DM) and neutral detergent fibre (185 g NDF per kg DM) (Ben Salem et al., 1996). The same authors reported that drinking water consumption by sheep is substantially reduced as the level of opuntia consumption increases.
COMPARISON OF CACTUS WITH HAY
Spiny or spineless cactus has been compared by farmers to “hay in the barn,” with up to 200 ton/ha of fresh weight. Several hectares of cactus can provide a considerable reserve of animal feed during drought periods. Unlike hay stored in the barn, the cactus in the fields does not deteriorate in quality with storage and there are no problems with rats eating the hay in storage. Even during drought periods in the summer or winter, cactus is green, with vitamin A and only needs to have the spines burned off or cattle admitted to the fenced area. In drought periods, cattle have to walk long distances to get water. If they are supplemented at one location by the rancher they must walk to this location every day. By consuming 40 kg of cactus per day - containing about 85% water - cattle are also consuming 35 litres of water per day, which can be beneficial in drought periods.
CONCLUSIONS
Either spiny or spineless opuntia clones, when planted in rows, fertilized and weeded, can achieve annual dry matter and fresh weight yields of 17 000 kg/ha and 170 000 kg/ha respectively, with crude protein concentrations of about 10%. When properly supplemented with protein, trace elements and critical vitamins, excellent growth and conception rates are possible. Opuntia has great potential for increasing production in average rainfall years, and to provide a critical reserve of forage for animals in severe drought years. In droughts, cactus can also provide a source of green forage and a much appreciated source of water for livestock.
CULTIVATION OF FORAGE OPUNTIA
Climate
Opuntia does not adapt to zones with extreme temperatures. In their place of origin - the highlands of Mexico - temperatures seldom reach +40°C or -10°C (Felker, 1995). The best temperatures for opuntia production range between 18 and 26°C, although some species can tolerate temperatures as high as 40°C and as low as -8°C. It grows in zones with annual precipitation of 200 to 250 mm, but the limits to commercial production are around 450 mm/yr (Pimienta, 1995).
Water requirement
Opuntia uses water more efficiently than conventional fodder crops, as illustrated in Table 25 (Le Houérou, 1994, cited by De Koch, 1998; Silva and Acevedo, 1985).
Table 25. Opuntia water use efficiency (WUE) under rainfed and irrigated conditions
Water use efficiency (WUE)
kg H2O/kg DM mg DM/g H2O
Opuntia(1) 15-43 23-65
Agave 93 10.7
Opuntia 267 3.7
Atriplex nummularia 304 3.3
Pearl millet 400 2.5
Barley 500 2.0
Sorghum 666 1.6
Wheat 750 1.3
Alfalfa 1000 1.0
Rangeland 2000 0.5
Sources: (1) De Koch, 1998. Other data Le Houérou, 1994
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:qfzPtnvSFmkJ:www.vishwagou.org/images/CowUniverse_Feb.pdf+ANSI+Tharparkar&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/tharparkar/index.htm
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:3vUmvQJB7OIJ:www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/02-5195.pdf+ANSI+Tharparkar&cd=17&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Securing
tomorrow’s
food
Part 1: Putting the conservation and sustainable use of farm animal breeds on
the international development agenda ....................................................................1
Why this dossier?.....................................................................................................................1
Biological and cultural diversity – treasures at stake................................................................2
The Convention on Biodiversity................................................................................................3
‘Species’, ‘breed’ and other definitions.....................................................................................4
Factors shaping diversity..........................................................................................................4
Importance of local breeds.......................................................................................................5
Why are breeds disappearing at such rate?.............................................................................6
High-performing uniformity replaces multipurpose diversity.................................................................6
Breed imports and crossbreeding reduce local stock...........................................................................6
Policies disadvantage pastoralists and low-input production systems.................................................7
The conservation of local breeds .............................................................................................7
Present state of conservation ...............................................................................................................8
Intellectual property rights and benefit-sharing ........................................................................9
Recommendations .................................................................................................................11
Grassroots level..................................................................................................................................11
National level ......................................................................................................................................12
International level................................................................................................................................12
Endnotes ................................................................................................................................12
Part 2. A different approach – case studies on the importance and sustainable
use of local breeds.......................................
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/
The Ongole breed, like other breeds of cattle in India, takes its name from the geographical area in which it is produced. It is also called the Nellore breed for the reason that formerly Ongole Taluk, a division of a district, was included in the Nellore district, but now it is included in the Guntur district. The area is part of the Andhra Pradesh in India.
This breed is included among the gray-white cattle of the north, having white or gray color, stumpy horns and a long coffin-shaped skull. It has a great similarity with the Gaolao breed of Madhya Predesh and also has a resemblance to the Bhagnari type of cattle in the north of India. This similarity is not surprising in view of the fact that these breeds lie along the path taken by the Rig Vedic Aryans in their march from the north to the south of India.
It is claimed that the finest specimens of the breed are found in the area between the Gundalakama and Alluru rivers in the Ongole and Kandukur taluks, and also in the villages of Karumanchi, Nidamanur, Pondur, Jayavaram, Tungtoor and Karvadi and along the banks of River Musi. They are also famous from the taluks of Vinukonda and Narasraopet.
Characteristics
The Ongoles are large-sized animals with loosely knit frames, large dewlaps which are fleshy and hang in folds extending to the navel flap, and slightly pendulous sheaths. They have long bodies and short necks; limbs are long and muscular. The forehead is broad between the eyes and slightly prominent. Eyes are elliptical in shape with black eyelashes and a ring of black skin about 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide around the eyes. Ears are moderately long, measuring on an average for 9 to 12 inches, and slightly drooping. Horns are short and stumpy, growing outwards and backwards, thick at the base and firm without cracks. In some animals the horns are loose; this is probably due to the horn core not growing well.
The hump in the males is well-developed and erect and filled up on both sides and not concave. The skin is of medium thickness, mellow and elastic and often shows black mottled markings. The popular color is white. The male has dark gray markings on the head, neck and hump and sometimes black points on the knees and on the pasterns of both the fore and hind legs. A red or red and white animal of typical conformation is occasionally seen. They have a white switch of the tail, white eyelashes, a flesh colored muzzle, light colored hooves, dark gray marking on the hindquarters and dark mottle appearance on the body.
Ongole cattle are efficiently used in their native home for both work and milk production. They are usually docile and the bulls are very powerful, suitable for heavy plowing or car work but are not considered to be suitable for fast work or trotting purposes. The cows are fair milkers.
All animals currently used for food and agriculture and the result of Domestication from wild progenitor species like their wild relatives. These Domestic species are continuously evolving albeit at an accelerated rate due to human activity. In general the history of cattle followed the history of man, where even either primitive or modern. Man has migrated he has tended to bring with him his own breeds of cattle. During vedic period many of the useful animals have been brought under service of man, particularly
Milk became useful since Rigvedic period. The selected those animals species that are having vigor, inborn nearness, social ability and docility. The evolutionary process has been accelerated in the domestic species particularly cattle, as a consequence of 10,000 years of selection by human, during this period with in the species genetic variation which is essential for the survival of all species, has been partially redistributed in the formation of the large number of unique cattle breeds now exists.
These breeds have adopted too many environments as the breeds spread and have been used to produce different types and combinations. A major group of mammals to be domesticated after caprinae were the large ruminants (Bovinae), which included the humped (Bos indicus) and hump less (Bos Taurus) cattle, yak, mithun, banteng and buffalo. This range of species in the family Bovinae make a very large number of important contributions to food and agriculture, providing just under 30% world meat and 87% world milk. This Bovinae provided the planet with a means of digesting via fermentation. Same types of zebu animals are present from the time of Indus Valley civilization dating back to 3000 BC Indian subcontinent is a treasure house of Bos-Indicus Cattle.
Farmers in the breed tract has selected and preserved each successive variation, with the distinct intention of improving and altering a breed, in accordance with a preconceived idea, and by thus adding up variations, often so slight as to be imperceptible to the uneducated. He has effected wonderful changes and improvements in the direction he desired as we see here under in Ongole Breed from 1880. There is a tendency in the breed to grow leggy with sparse light carriage, but their form, temper and endurance earned nearness to the breeders.
Effect of heat loads on Ongole cattle
Radiation:
Solar radiation received from sun is through solar terrestrial. The amount of radiation emitted for a particular location depends on global positioning, latitude, and longitude. Infrared radiation is intense in tropics, having sterilizing effect, stimulates tissues, increases metabolic processes. Non-pigmented skin has a definite hazard. 85% of solar radiated heat is sent back to the environment by the Ongole animal through its white, reflective coat. Diurnal variations such as seasons, humidity, latitude, altitude, influences variation in radiant heat loads. The rest 15% of heat immediately absorbed by the under lying black skin. When the animal has nine blacks, total body skin will be black these cattle reduces heat load through behavioral means, and postural adjustments, also orientation towards sun make it protect its own parts through shade and thus reducing heat loads. Long legs of this breed helps in minimizing absorption of solar radiated heat. Light carriage also helps are exposed to sun.
Conductive and convective heat loads on these cattle transfer between surroundings and direct contact through soil and bedding, drinking water, feeds and fodders. Avoiding lying down stretching its body parts also helps.
Light is the most constant factor having vigor. Light influences on pituitary, shedding of hair on seasons, increase in metabolism, vision. High light intensity decreases cell wall content and increases water-soluble carbohydrates in vegetation and thus influences livestock.
Relative Humidity:
% of moisture in air is humidity. Air moisture content influences animals heat balance particularly in warm climates where evaporative cooling is crucial to homeothermy. High humidity associated with high temperature favors less nutritive value of feeds and fodders, of ten the stock are light colored, with pigmented skins, and shade lovers. These influence humidity aerial movement, transpiration, rainfall and temperature.
Characters associated with hardiness and thriftiness:
· Has the ability to reverse down metabolism during extremes of scarcity.
· Efficient forager and does not force the calf for foraging.
· Fruitful in milk with exact fat percentage to keep the calves at rapid growth.
· Tight sheath and small teats to avoid injuries of grazing animals.
· Sloppy rumps are suitable for quick and hard work, having 4 sacral vertebrae.
· Have more number of bigger, functional, sweat glands per unit area of the skin.
· Having white or light colored, short, sleek, densely, reflecting and glistering coat, which will not attract vectors and dislodge them with insulting character.
· Skin, pigmented, black, mellow, loose, thick and presence of subcutaneous panniculus carnosis muscle, which repels vectors by twitching.
· Highest heat tolerant coefficient.
· Basal metabolic rate low.
· Nutritional uniqueness, ability to convert low protein, high fiber roughage materials into high-grade foodstuffs with the aid of Omasal symbionts, such as thrives and performs well on inferior fodders.
· Crude protein utilization is highest.
· Perform well where even pastures are seasonal, scanty, and sparse.
· Spent much time in grazing even during daytime, seek shade only 3% of their total grazing time.
· Slow to cycle, when under nutritional stress or lactation stress, but response to cycle is immediate when nutrients are plenty.
Ongole Breed Tract:
Originally the breed tract comprises areas where there is no assured or commercial crops, leaving cattle raising as the only profitable proposition by selling bull ghee (Clarified butter), since crops and cultivation are not profitable. The farmers are quite aware of the food, investment, manure, forage, draught animal power and employment linkages, improving through subsistence security, transfer of nutrients, modification of vegetation and finally increasing the human support capacity of the land through Ongole breed of cattle. These cattle raising formed a part of risk education strategy with agriculture, as livestock is a saving account and their calves are interest. The farmer is quite conscious of the herd management policy options on direct costs and indirect costs, breeding, off take, purchase and culling. It clearly indicates this breed is originally dairy, later transformed as dual purpose i.e., dairy and draft animals, presently mostly a draught animal.
The breed tract comprised between rivers Krishna on Northern side, Pennar River on Southern side, nalamalai range of forest on Western side and Coromandai coast on Eastern side lying between 15.00 to 16.10’ east latitude and 79.04’ to 80.02’ north longitude. The rivulets gundlakamma, madigandi, Paleru, Muneru, Musi, Chilakaleru. Whose extensive banks became excellent grazing areas. With population growth and consequent demand for cereals the Brahmini bull selection system has been oriented towards draft characters. The soils are black loam to black clay having large quantities of lime with soil pH of 6.9 to 7.2 most favorable for notification bacteria and luxuriant growth of legumes. Annual rain fall of about 900mm with about 50 rainy days out of which 2/3 roads are from southwest monsoon and 1/3 from northeast monsoon supporting most of the cereal crops. The average ambient temperature of maximum 32 degrees Celsius and minimum of 23.5 degrees Celsius and average relative humidity of 79%.
After formation of Krishna and Godavari Ayacuts during 1850’s with assured irrigation and increased demand for draft services, the breed tract extended to Krishna, Godavari and northern circars. Original tract is for breeding and extended tract for breeding and rearing, further ceded districts and Nalgonda and Mohaboob Nagar districts as rearing tracts. Extension of breed tract forced for 2 reasons. The demand for draft services from the area and generally the same species need the same resources and thus are bound to complete for the same, except when they are colonizing a new habitat, as such expansion of the tract.
Breeding
Before organized efforts of the colonial rule, the institution of Brahmini Bull system in the ongole area has substantially improved the breed by avoiding inferior breeding and inbreeding. It has been the custom in the area that dedicating a young bull selected by a village committee funded by village rich men or the local diety and the bull being branded at a ceremony either with Sanku, Chakra, Trisul, then becomes common property and Brahmini bull is the property of the village and covers the village herd, this is how a small farmer provided the stud services. The changes in cropping pattern from cereals to commercial crops like chillis, and Tobacco during the 1930’s and cotton during 1960’s have badly affected the breeds feed resources.
With the introduction and expansion of artificial insemination programs rapidly has resulted in affecting the distribution of breeding bulls under various schemes have been stopped and there is decay in the institution of Brahmini Bull system which primarily supported the breed for centuries. During 1960’s introduction of Taurus breeds through aid programs has helped large scale indiscriminate breeding in the valuable Ongole herds. Like all other resources, the livestock wealth should also to be carefully and properly utilized and preserved. Planners in an attempt to improve milk production in Ongole cattle did many mistakes. One major error was the perception that output reflects efficiency, Hence the use of exotics on Ongoles to improve indigenous stock. Output was very often the main criteria for which a breed was imported. Finally after sinking in a lot of money and time, we could learn that genetics is only one and often not the main tool that can ensure greater efficiency of output. Husbandry, survival, health, reproduction efficiency of feed utilization parameters becomes important. In a craze for cross breeding the excellent government herds built up for decades were also not spared by the planners. The saying that breeding policy should depend on animal, existing production potential, anticipated, goals, environment, man and economic development rather than prejudice, taste and trivial dictates.
Character associated with disease resistance:
· Premunity high.
· Reticulo endothelial system well developed.
· Resistant to eye cancer.
· Through their coating, insulating, secretary characters are more resistant to tick born diseases.
· Zebum secretion is fly repellent.
· Flexible tail tip, having cartilage in place of last 3 or 4 vertebrae helps as a brush to repel vectors.
The effects of climatologically variables on Ongoles are varied. High external heat load due to both radiant and high air temperature exposure depends on degree, and duration. On acute exposure the animal tries to accommodate rather than combat. As a routine the metabolic heat and the catabolic heat produced with in the body also needs to be eliminated. When heat loss mechanism reaches its maximum values the animal resorts to methods of reducing heat production in an effort to achieve homoeothermic. Reduction in calarogenic hormones accompanies decrease in Basal Metabolic rate, voluntary feed intake, muscular and ruminal activity and changes in release of gonadotrophic hormone and thus reduced sexual activity. Ability of animals to maintain core temperature in physiological adaptability and the ability to maintain production/reproduction/growth rates in productive adaptability. These two are often at variance. Thus selection of traits of physiological adaptability is often incompatible with improvement of production and consequently they are undesirable. Mere reproductive opportunism is generally short lived, if the adaptive ness of the organism is not maintained and almost invariably proves self-limiting. This is not the case with the Ongoles. Long range fitness of ongole cattle population depends on adaptation, through the stability, variability and the rate of environmental changes helped through domestication by the farmers as they are treated as family pets. Selection of Ongoles, which attain homeothermy mostly by heat loss mechanism without resorting to reducing the heat production would be those of choice from economic view point.
pH
No larger breeds of livestock were ever bred in acid pH soils. The soil pH being 7.2 in tract most favorable for legumes. So it increased muscle protein and skeletal size. Cattle in acid pH soils are small in size and are shade lovers.
Feeding:
The fodder crops, grasses and trees that supported the breed for centuries need to be enlightened. The fodder crops either grain or crops or crop residues available from sorghum, zeamays, crotalaria, macrotylma, vigna, cicer, pennisestum, sataria, oryza, kollaganjeru, fodder trees like acacia, azaridachta and fiscus are also used to shade trees. The fodder grasses that were grown naturally on rivers and rivulets banks, private grazing lands and common grazing lands include andropogan, iseilema, indigofera grasses species has maintained this breed for centuries. After formation of ayacut the Ongole cattle need to go to forest for grazing from June/July and return only after December/January, surviving predation and theft later attending to threshing operations of cereals. The migration of population from rural to urban areas, changes in society and pressure on land working against the interest of Ongole cattle, since they are located specific the available poor, scanty, sparse, and seasonal fodders which are low in protein and high in fiber need to be improved by inter-cultivation of legumes, intercropping, chaffing, treatment by way of extensive use of agro industrial bye products should be extensively used.
Characters associated with self-reliance:
· Enduring and estimable.
· Docile but alert.
· Intelligent and respond well for treatment if handled with love, skill, and care.
· Athletic in nature, with majestic appearance, head high, square walk and quick step, giving noble but heavy look.
· Try to move in groups to avoid predators.
· Highest ability to self-preserve and longevity is more than 15 years.
· Long bodied with big skeletal size and with ability to gain weight more perceptible after 2 years of age and massive.
· Lack in heart girth due to preponderance of draught type.
· Vitality and Vigor unique in young ones.
· Outstanding Mothering ability.
· Highest combining ability for cross breeding and formation of new breeds.
· Highest rustling ability to walk long distances in search of food and water and to pace with the herds.
· Marked tolerance to direct sunlight and radiation.
· Loose skin, hump, dewlap and other appendages contribute 12% excess surface area per unit weight over Taurus breeds.
· Outward disposition of horns helps defend from predators.
· Have highest coetaneous and lowest respiratory heat loss as such panting is less.
· Have highest multiple ability of adaptation for climate fodder and pathogens.
· Sensitiveness, intelligence and shyness make them more independent and less dependent on man, more energetic and resourceful.
· Reproductive uniqueness, higher reproduction rates and more number of lifetime calves high calf survival rates.
· Calving ease and minimum dystokias, with more birth weight of cattle.
Skin:
The skin covers body and provides protection literally a thermostat for the body. Heat flows from core organs like brain, heart, liver, spleen, intestines, and lungs to surface of body and from surface it should be sent out to environment through radiation, conduction and convection. Skin contains sebascous and sweat glands, muscles, roots of hair, fallacies and capillaries. When all nine blacks are present, the whole skin is pigmented and black. The presence of subcutaneous “panniculus carnosis” muscle helps in repelling vectors through twitching. When sweating/respiratory heat loss is 6 in zebus where as it is only 4 in Taurus breeds. Water resorption in kidney and colon is double that of the Taurus. Though skin studies were done in 10 indigenous breeds in India no work was done in Ongoles, but the skin type may lie between type 1 and type 3. Skin being highly vascular more heat is sent out as sensible heat loss or diffusion heat loss. In Ongoles evaporative and sweat contribute much heat loss.
Ongoles cattle skin secretes zebum, which filters ultraviolet rays. Due to high vascular they bleed profusely if punctured and wounds will heal quickly. Being black in color the 15% of solar heat allowed by coat to pass on is at once absorbed by the skin. Our farmers are so intelligent that umbrellas are black in color but in villages they used to stitch white cloth over the black cloth on the analogy of the structure of Ongole cattle i.e. white external coat and black underlying skin. During evolutionary process the body temperature has been increased, at the same time tolerance for that temperature failed to take place in male gametes. This was circumvented through effective thermoregulation mechanism of tests.
Reference:
Joshi, N.R., Phillips, R.W. (1953) Zebu Cattle of India and Pakistan, FAO Agriculture Studies No. 19, Publ. By FAO, Rome, 256 pp.
Dr. A. Madhusudhana, 74,Veterinary Colony, Ring Road, VIJAYAWADA, ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA, PIN 520008, Phone 91866-453707 email: adusumillimrao2002@yahoo.com
Photographs:
Dr. A. Madhusudhana, 74,Veterinary Colony, Ring Road, VIJAYAWADA, ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA, PIN 520008, Phone 91866-453707 email: adusumillimrao2002@yahoo.com
The Red Sindhi originated in the Pakistani state of Sind but due to its hardiness, heat resistance and high milk yields they have spread into many parts of India and at least 33 countries in Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Americas.
Under good management conditions the Red Sindhi averages over 1700 kg of milk after suckling their calves but under optimum conditions there have been milk yields of over 3400 kg per lactation.
The average height of a Red Sindhi cow is 116 cm with a body weight of 340 kg. Bulls average 134 cm in height and a body weight of 420 kg. They are normally a deep, rich red color but this can vary from a yellowish brown to dark brown. Males are darker than females and when mature may be almost black on the extremities, such as the head, feet and tail.
The Sahiwal is the heaviest milker of all Zebu breeds and display a well developed udder. Sahiwals demonstrate the ability to sire small, fast-growing calves and are noted for their hardiness under unfavorable climatic conditions.
The Sahiwal originated in the dry Punjab region which lies along the Indian-Pakistani border. They were once kept in large herd by professional herdsmen called "Junglies". However with the introduction of irrigation to the region they began to be kept in smaller numbers by the farmers of the region, who used them as draft and dairy animals.
The Sahiwal is one of the best dairy breeds in India and Pakistan. It is tick-resistant, heat-tolerant and noted for its high resistance to parasites, both internal and external. Cows average 2270 kg of milk during a lactation while suckling a calf and much higher milk yields have been recorded. Due to their heat tolerance and high milk production they have been exported to other Asian countries as well as Africa and the Caribbean. As oxen they are generally docile and lethargic, making them more useful for slow work.
Their color can range from reddish brown through to the more predominant red, with varying amounts of white on the neck, and the underline. In males the color darkens towards the extremities, such as the head, legs and tails.
Cattle Germplasm
Motu Breed: Small separate milk and drought breed live on scanty grazing under the open condition throughout the year and are regular breeders.
Birnjharpuri Cattle Breed: A smaller upgraded Haryana type animal. Compat, draught capacity weights about 640 kgs of Cuttack sight.
Ghoomsoori Cattle Breed: Small size, hardy draft breed of Ganjam, Phulbani districts, Orissa extending into Srikakulam district of A.P.
Buffalo
Ambardekar D. V., 2000. Studies on body measurement and qualitative traits in Pandharpuri buffaloes. M. Sc.(Agri.) Thesis submitted to Mahatma Phule Agricultural University, Rahuri, M. S., India
The breed is famous for its high reproductive ability, producing a calf every 12 months. Under average management conditions and hot -dry climate these buffaloes yield 6-7 liters of milk per day; however under good management they are reported to yield up to 15 lit of milk per day.
http://orissaahvs.com/website/bio-diversity-in-orissa/buffalo.htm
Arni of Koraput: Wild, large sized buffaloes, breeds well with local buffaloes, It is under threat of extinction in Orissa forests.
Kalahandi Breed: Medium sized, very hardy slow working draught type breed. Well known for longitivity
Manda Breed: Medium sized, breed on hills and forests, hardy and live without housing facilities best drought ability. Prospectus to improve milk yield is existing. They are having highest fat of South Orissa breeds. It is a very small population
Parlakimedi Breed: Medium sized, swamp type to look, milch breed. They are best road graziers, regular breeders.
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