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Livestock and environment an assessment for India

By Prof Dr Ghulam Mohyuddin Wani

Today's ecological concerns –first the excessive use of fossil fuel and the resultant pollutants. Second, water and air pollution from fertilizers and chemicals. Under these concerns the livestock too are maligned .This paper attempts to mitigate some of the doubts by citing Indian facts and experiences. India had ( 1992 censes )205 million cattle heads. This means hardly one for 5 persons. This 1:5 ratio is perhaps lesser than many advanced countries . The distribution of total livestock per sq km is more, it is true of the human population density too. A serious thinking on this sector is needed to undo the damages. An easy proposition can be to reduce the numbers and increase the per animal productivity. The majority of our cattle are non descript .

The percentage of crossbreds is increasing and the total number of livestock is decreasing at a faster rate. The production of milk is on the increase mostly due to production from the cross breds. According to 1992 estimates the adult cows are 64 % of the total cattle population and 49% are still none descript .Only 6 % cross breds and 9 % are described breeds. The male numbers are decreasing due to mechanization. Growth Rate The annual growth rate over past few years has been under 0. 5%.

The indigenous cattle increased at a minimal of 0.12% ,indicating a shift towards more productive cattle with less numbers and thus an eco-friendly trend. The 0.62 % Increase in cross breeds is 5 times more than the low producing one.It indicates a new shift towards organized exotic dairy farming,relieving pastores and grazing lands of the pressure of overstocking and a cleanenvironment. The decease of unproductive cattle and increase in crossbreds is in past few years has resulted in the enhancement of per capita milk availability from few gms to nearly 210 gms at national level.

The details are shown in Table 1.Some of the states like Punjab,Haryana,Rajasthan,Gujrat,Jammu and Kashmir and HP have more per capita availability than the norms established by Indian council of medical research. The increase in breed able (0.57)and milch cattle (0.62)is faster than the males and unproductive ones. By now the pool of 9 million cross bred cows must have doubled and the concomitant decease in the non descript cattle is and thus a decrease in total cattle heads is evident.Therefore India is marching towards a eco friendly cattle production inspite of its constitutional commitments and regulatory mechnism. A few cruelty to animals and welfare issues have been analysed too and are showm as captions along with the deprived animals in these page.To highlight some of them –the male calf factor ,aged and unproductive animals left on roads and roaming free in the nomans land and streets have been documented in the figues and related captions.Detailed analysis are show in the presentation. The production and per capita availability of milk and milk products is on rise with decreasing trends in the total livestock population. The 160 million non descript animals decreasing at faster rate shall make the number of cross breeds to increase our milk availability further.

 The bull calf factor in our economy is perhaps a negative factor needing attension.The fortification of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides have already decreased our production potential and soil water resource are at receiving end. The climatic pollution is here with loss of soil depth, low vegetation and soil erosions and low water levels. Livestock as alternate and sustainable energy source We have 21% Bullock power and 9% Buffalo bulls ploughing 100 million hectares of land mostly rain fed .They move 1.4 millions carts, herby saving 120 billion rupees and preventing toxic effulent emissions through non use of fossil fuel'. Animal Draught power and envirnment Our 83 million draught animals contribute 30,000 mw ENERGY IN THIS TIME OF ENERGY CRISIS. The work of 15 million tractors is being done by our bullocks.It saves us billions of foreign exchange . The 7o million tons of cow dung used as fuel saves us 27 MT of kerosene and 68 MT of wood. Imagine so much of wood shall denude our 22% FORESTS AT A MUCH FASTER ARTE THAN EXPECTED. Our hill canopy was saved by planting orchards and other fruit and non fruit bearing plants. Likewise the environmental determents shall be replaced by recycling of the dung urine and the energy produced through bullock power.Surprisingly,even good % OF THE COWS is also used for ploughing. ?

What should be our strategy Set goals as per Our resource base ie Location specific strategy . We have 29 breeds of cattle .Few (5 ) breeds are milk ones like the Gir (2-6 thousand KGS /LAC),sahiwal 2-4 thousand kgs/lac,Red sindhi 2-4 thousand kgs and Tharparkar with 1.8-3.5 thousand kegs /lact .The fat % ranges from 4-4.5%.The majority of them are heat and disease resistant. A cross bred cows averages slightly higher than 3000-6000 Litres per lactation but fat % varies around 3.5. If the milk is priced on per kg fat the margin of profits between these indigenous cows and the exotic cross breds shall not be much.The pressure on the environment and land is also less as these locals thrive on agricultural waste and need low expenditures.

The intensive maize silage or green fodder in summer shall relieve pressure on water and land resources.If competitive cost of production and the sale value is the measure of comparison then differences may not be much. Even in the commercialized dairy farms of Punjab milk alone does not fetch profits to the farmer .The rising incidences of diseases may sink the profits and may be devastating like chemical farming in the past. Unfortunately the pseudo at the top either do not realize the gravity of biosafty or ignore it wittingly. We have dual purpose breeds like Rathi,Doeni,Hariana,Kankrej,Ongole,Goaloo,Kridhna valley,Mewati,Sri,Bachour,Kharigarh,Unblachery.Ponwar,Vechoer and Pungannure.They gives 1800-3500 kgs /lac/ The Draught breeds are Kandhari,Nimari,Khillari,Amritmahal,Halikar,Nagore,Bargure,Nagore,Kenkatha, To save the energy we may have to conserve and preserve the draught breeds. A mechanism of pooling the efforts through convergence by vet colleges, institutes, gowshallas and all others to utilise the vast resource is needed. We have fewer problems in small ruminants than in cattle. Here we have to make efforts to limit the numbers within the constituted act and writ of the nation and simultaneously utilize them for the draught purposes to save our energy resources. Who know the turn at the century we may revert back to draught animal power as the way of life. When fossil fuels get exhausted and are costlier.SMALL RUMINANT PRODUCTION SYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENT Sheep and goats in Rajasthan, district Johdpure, 0N 13-10-2009 ECO-FRIENDLY GRAZING The picture shows sheep and goats grazing in a field which could not be used for crop cultivation due to lack of rains. The crops sown were hit by the severe drought .

The minimal rainfall during June-September, 2009 could not survive the crops .All dried or did not germinate. One can see a bush type shrub called saniaa locally(Crotalania burtia) a leguminose family nitrogen fixing plant speices,, which feeds sheep and goats. Its sticks are used for thatching houses and also as firewood. This is drought suited indigenous technology :ADOPTED AND LOCATION –SPECIFIC. Back on the fringes can be seen a plant called KHEJRI ,this thrives even in the deep desserts where rains are scantly, but its deep root system and tight leaf stomata helps it to thrive and with stand desert heat. It provides leaves as fodder to the sheep and goats, twigs cut every year to serve as fuel and shelter wood, its fruits used as vegetable and human food rich in proteins(see phographs and solar drinrg techniques below).It provides the desired shadow in the scorching heat if the deserts. The peculiar specific quality of this desert Queen in plant kingdom is that under its shadow the crops thrive better. I pondered on the observation of the village wise and got convinced .Otherwise from east to west and north to south of the globe the shadowy trees restrict crops under them .The reason being photosynthetic failures .Khejri has a vertical foliage cover and therefore does not restrict the full spectrum of sunlight under it.Thus helps to share sunshine with those underneath. I would name this a desert Queen as it looks like a majesty in the desert, feeds its deprived and allows its competitors to grow and thrive. I have not called d it King as kings of Jodhpur have often been warriors and war always brings destruction in a civilized nation. I would call it Jhoda baie queen, the grand majesty of the Akbar the great King whose wife was sober, faithfull and honourable JHODA BAI Sheep and goats grazing on sania (CR0TALANIA BUSTIA) a leguminosae plant with nitrogen binding properties.see these anilams use onlt the ripe foliage which would otherwise go waste.They do not uproot the plant as large animals do.They are webbed with the syatem and need to be grazed other wise their accomolation may lead to wild fires.cultivation or tracterization of these deserts make them more vulnerable to winds and formation of sand dunes.These plants are snad dune stabliszers and need propagation and grazing by sheep and gotas .

This is natural resource use.our second option. Sustainable location specific animal -agricultural base. .ANIMALS, SHRUBS AND DESERT SAND COMBINE TO SUSTAIN LIFE EVEN UN der low rains of 2009 (June-September, less than100mm) A species withholding and surviving when all other sown crops failed needs propagation,This shrub Crotalania burtia a leguminous . Who damages the forests and pasture areas, compare above the forests with the here we see the author and his nodal officer from the department of agriculture in the same forest area of the Johdpure. The introduction of the Israeli babul has spread like wild fire and a weed. It is said to have endangered the wild animals that used to inhabit these vast deserts. See the above tree which is damages, obviously not by the grazing or the browsing sheep or goats but the species who cry on roof tops a horror, goat is forest destroyer. She does not care to touch these plants nor have the taste for it, yet why she is blamed.

We will see later in Ajmer district report how the entire forest canopy was destroyed by the humans who malign the poor goats for the act they do. We have been showing it in our earlier reports [wani, 2002, Goat Husbandry-multipurpose management, encyclopedia of dairy science, 1257-1278.elevier publications. Please see below the author wandering in the sand dunes of the deserts, which were devastated by low rains. None of the vast rain fed technologies of the world could grow a blade of any cultivated crop in these sand dunes of the district Bar mere in June-october ,2009.Still the nature the Creator of the world knows what to grow and how to sustain the life here in this desert, The lonely walk of the author in these deserts of Rajasthan could be a convincing mode for the thicker and planners, cultivate what is indigenous and adapted since centuries.Dont not bring exotics, Use the modern technology for improving these locations. I would criticize the elite in science a technology horizon of India .They never appreciated the merits of our locals, the adopted germplasm from centuries, having merits and deep roots in the soil of India. May this paper of mine ring the awaking bell to all, use technology, both modern and traditional to sustain life on this derests.Life I mean, soil microbes, plants, animals, humans and all those creatures we see or we do not see.

This is what we call the conservation of the biodiversity. We need to use the new generations DNA technologies invented in the west for identification and DNA finger printing of our local adapted germplasm both animal and plants.Improve them using biotechnologies of the world and propagate them through bio-informative ,this is what I mean for Blend of modern and traditional technologies. This plant grow as a weed on the uncultivated ridges and fringes of the vast desert land and sand dunes.The low of the rain fall less than 100mm in summer 2009,resulted in the failure of cropping .The sown and ploughed lands as shown in some photographs below did not yield any crop,but the seeds of this weed propagsted and even ybder scanty ra

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About the Author:
Ph.D (Animal Reproduction / Gynaecology), Dr. Med. Vet (Animal Reproduction/ Production)
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