INDIAS SHORTEST COWS AND THEIR FACTS

The pride World in India :Worlds Shortest Cow Breeds in India

1.Dr.pratap.s,2Dr.Rama Krishna, 3.Dr.Pradeep.s

Vechur cow

The Vechur cow (also spelled Vechoor cow) is a rare breed of Bos indicus cattle named after the village of Vechur in Kottayam district, Kerala, India. With an average length of 124 cm and height of 87 cm it is the smallest cattle breed in the world and is valued for the larger amount of milk it produces relative to the amount of food it requires^.

The Vechur cow was popular in Kerala until the 1960s but became rare when native cattle were crossbred with exotic varieties. In mid-2000s, scientists at Kerala Agricultural University began a programme of conservation and study of the breed.About 200 cows are supposed to exist today, nearly 100 of them with the Veterinary College. A recent report claims that the milk of the Vechur cow has more of the beta casein variety A2, rather than the variety A1 which is implicated in diseases like diabetes, ischaemic heart disease and autism ^.  Average milk production of the Vechur cows is 2.3Kg/day. The age at first heat is 19 months and the average age of  first lactation is 36 months. The inter calving period is about 14 months. The mean milk fat at 20  weeks of lactation is 6.235% and the SNF is 8.88%.

A controversy arose in 1997 when environmentalist Vandana Shiva stated that a Scottish company, the Roslin Institute, was trying to patent the cow's genetic code. Shiva described the action as piracy. The Roslin Institute denied the charge.

Description on Vechur Cattle: The animals are extremely small in size and have compact body. The following are the common features of Vechur cattle.

Common Features of Vechur Cattle:

Colour Head Horns Ears Eye lids Dewlap Hump Legs Tail Udder Naval flap Sheath Skin Body Wt. Height

: light red, black, white, grey (solid colour) : long with narrow face : generally small and thin, and in some cases extremely small and hardly seen outside : horizontally oriented with 15 - 17 cm in length : black or brown : small : present, prominent in males : short : long, almost touching the ground : well attached squarely placed with small tapering teats, milk vein well developed : Small : tucked up : smooth and glossy : Cow (95 - 150 kg) Bull (130 - 200 kg) : Cow (81 - 91 cm) Bull (83 - 105 cm)

Milk quality of vechur cow: The milk of the indigenous, small-sized Vechur cow is more beneficial to health than the milk from cross-bred bovine varieties.  beta casein A2, a milk protein that prevents diabetes, heart diseases, atherosclerosis, autism and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), is found in Vechur cattle in higher measure than in other breeds such as: Jersey, Holstein-Friesian and Brown Swiss which are Keralite’s favourites. Beta casein is a major milk protein that imparts biological, technological and physical properties to milk. There has been a finding recently that beta casein yields biologically active peptides during digestion that takes place in the intestine. Among 12 beta casein variants, two common types have been identified as A1 and A2. The former has been found to trigger releases of substances that cause various illnesses like diabetes, heart diseases, atherosclerosis, schizophrenia and SIDS. However A2 is found to be safe for human consumption. Milk breeds such as Holstein Friesian and Ayrshire have a high frequency of A1 gene but most of the Indian breeds of animals have only the beneficial A2 gene.

Punganur Cow

The Punganur dwarf cow, which originated in Chitoor District, Andhra Pradesh, India, is considered one of the world's smallest cows. The Punganur breed's milk has a high fat content and is rich in medicinal properties. While cow milk normally has a fat content of 3 to 3.5 per cent, the Punganur breed's milk contains 8 per cent.

The Punganur is found in Chittoor district situated in the south-eastern tip of the Deccan Plateau with an average rainfall of 700 mm. It is the worlds shortest, humped cattle. Animals are white and light grey in colour with a broad forehead and short horns. Its average height is 70-90 cms and its weight is 115-200 kg. The cow is an amazingly efficient milker with an average milk yield of 3-5 L/day on a daily feed intake of 5 kg. It is also highly drought resistant, and able to survive exclusively on dry fodder

Some of the breed characteristics are:

• Back sloping downwards from front to hind quarters.
• Tail touching the ground.
• Slight mobile horns, almost flat along the back and normally at different heights from each other

The Punganur is on the verge of extinction, with some 60 odd animals remaining. This decline is mainly due to the Indian Government's somewhat short-sighted objective of 'bettering' Indian cattle breeds with an influx of Holstein-Friesian and Jersey cattle traits from developed countries, and banning the rearing of native bull breeds. The remaining Punganur cattle are being reared mainly on the Government Livestock Farm, Palamaner, Chittoor district, while a small informal group of private breeders are also working on reviving the species. The Punganur dwarf cow, which originated in Chitoor District, Andhra Pradesh, India, is considered one of the world’s smallest cows. It is the world’s shortest, humped cattle. The Punganur breed’s milk has a high fat content and is rich in medicinal properties. The Punganur is on the verge of extinction, with some 60 odd animals remaining. This decline is mainly due to the Indian Government’s somewhat short-sighted objective of ‘bettering’ Indian cattle breeds with an influx of Holstein-Friesian and Jersey cattle traits from developed countries, and banning the rearing of native bull breeds. The remaining Punganur cattle are being reared mainly on the Government Livestock Farm, Palamaner, Chittoor district, while a small informal group of private breeders are also working on reviving the species.






Malnad Gidda

                                        Malnad Gidda cattle are small size animals and distributed in Malnad area of Karnataka. The population of the breed is about 7-8 lakh in Karnataka but is showing a declining trend. This breed has not been included in the list of recognized cattle breeds of India due to lack of information about the breed. A survey was undertaken in the 23 villages of 3 talukas of Shimoga district and 4 talukas of Chickmagalur district of Kamataka state. Data were collected for management, phenotypic characteristics, morpho-metric traits, production and reproductive performance on 398 animals belonging to 41 farmers. There were 5 coat colours found in these animals (black, brown, red, fawn and white, sometimes mixture of any 2) but black colour was predominant. Average body length, height at withers and chest girth were 87.04±O.65, 90.29±0.46, and l18.36±O.67 cm for cows and 86.53±1.93, 91±1.47 and 118.47±3.93 cm for adult males, respectively, indicated the small size of Malnad Gidda breed among all the known cattle breeds of India. The herd size varied from 3 to 35 animals. The average daily milk yield of elite cows was obtained as 2.11 kg. The age at first service in males, age at first calving of cows, service period, dry period and calving interval, were 38.06±1.24 months, 45.41±1.22 months, 8.38±1.03 months, 7.17±O.53 months and 17.02±O.68 months, respectively. Animals of this breed are playing a significant role in the rural livelihood of Malnad area of Karnataka in terms of draught, milk and manure. There is a need to take up systematic genetic improvement programme and sustainable measures for the conservation of population of this breed.

Malnad Gidda cattle breed is a native of Western Ghats in Karnataka. The word gidda means dwarf and Malnad means a place receiving heavy rainfall.

At present this cattle breed is distributed predominately in Malnad areas of Shimoga, Hassan, Chikmangalur and adjacent coastal districts of Mangalore, Udupi, North Kanara and parts of Kodagu districts of Karnataka.

Small size

The animals are small in size with a compact body frame weighing 80-120 kgs. Malnad breed is short in height and smaller compared to Vechur and Kasaragod cattle of Kerala and Punganur cattle breed of Andhra Pradesh.

The animals are active and resistant to major diseases such as foot and mouth disease which affects cattle.

Well adapted

They are well adapted to the Western Ghats and have become an inseparable part of the farming community, providing milk, manure and draft power, according to Prof. M.G. Govindaiah, Special Officer, Karnataka Veterinary Animal and Fishery Sciences University (KVAFSU), Hebbal, Bangalore.

The skin colour in a majority of the animals is black with light shades of fawn on the thigh and shoulder regions. Brown coloured animals with light fawn shades are also seen.

The hooves, eyelids, tail switch (hair at the end of the tail), and horn are black in colour. A small hump is seen in males, while females have a bowl shaped udder. The teats are funnel in shape being broader at the base, narrowing downwards and ending with pointed tips.

The tail is long and the tail switch almost touches the ground. This breed yields 0.5 to 4 litres of milk per day with a fat content of 5.5 to 8 per cent. The animals remain in milking for about 250 days in a year. The average lifespan of an adult animal is 9-12 years.

Naturally robust

No special care is needed to rear these animals. During night time the animals can be housed in roughly built sheds or tied under trees.

If the animals are housed in a shed it is usual practice to spread green leaves and/or twigs on the floor everyday as bedding material for the animals. The dung and urine are cleared in once a month or two and applied to the fields which form good quality compost manure.

Animals are mostly sent for grazing. They are also fed with small quantities of paddy straw, and green grass depending on their availability.

Traditional feed

Some farmers feed a traditional concentrate mixture called maddi (horsegram chunni, broken rice, oil-cake and rice flour) at the time of milking of the animals.

“The animals are generally bred by natural service and artificial insemination (AI) is not prevalent for this breed,” Prof Govindaiah said.

Regarding the cost of the animal, he said, a female animal of 2-3 years of age costs Rs.2,000-3,000 and a male animal is priced Rs.3,000-5,000.

At present there is an urgent need to conserve this breed in view of its disease resistance and adaptability to hot and humid conditions of Malnad region.

Frequent mating with other breeds to increase milk production has led to genetic dilution and erosion of this breed. 

Kasaragod Cattle

 

Kasaragod is the northern most district of Kerala flanked by a vast coastal area in the west and plains in the South and hilly tracts towards the North. The local cattle found in Kasaragod are of the dwarf type, with a uniform coat color black and varied shades of red.They are well adapted to the hot and humid climate of the region and possess high heat tolerance and disease resistance.
The calves weigh only 10.5 Kg at birth. Males attain a weight of 86.8 Kg at one year and 194.3 Kg at adult stage. Females attain a weight of 61.1 Kg at one year and 147.7 Kg at adult stage. The bulls are on an average 107.3 cms tall while the cows have a height of 95.83 cms. Kasargod male calves gain about 7.8 times the birth weight at one year of age and this kind of growth rate is observed to be the highest ever reported for any Indian cattle at this stage. This points out the potential of this local cattle to emerge as a small beef breed, a finding that can be advantageously utilised by the livestock sector of Kerala.

References:

1.Project proposal for conservation of this breed has been submitted to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, according to Dr. Govindaiah.

2.Dr.Sosamma Lype papers on vechur breed

3. Beta casein A1 and A2 in milk and human health", Report to New Zealand Food Safety Authority, http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/policy-law/projects/a1-a2-milk/a1-a2-report.pdf

4. Animal genetics Resource Bulletin 1997 (FAO).

5.WEB Source.www.vechur.org