Dairy Farming Introduction Dairying is the production and marketing of milk usually cow and buffalo milk, and

its products. It includes the care of cows, their breeding, feeding management and milking. The milk must be collected, processed into dairy products and marketed. The cattle is used for many purposes other than milking they are used for tilling agricultural field, for pulling carts, for irrigating agricultural canals, and also for meat purpose. Breeds of Cattles India has 26 breeds of cattle. They belong to two distinct species classified as Bos indicus (OX) and Bos bubalis ( buffalo). The former type is the more domesticated form. Cattles are classified under 3 groups based on the purpose they serve to man, viz., draft breeds, dairy breeds and dual purpose breeds. Draft Breeds The draft breeds are cattles mainly meant for draft purposes like pulling carts ploughing fields etc they are well-built with good gait and strong limbs. The bulls are used for draft work. The cows are poor milkers. Important examples of Indian draft breeds are Amrithamahal, Kangayam Nagore, Malvi, Hallikar. Etc. Amrithamahal. This is an important breed of Karnataka state. The cattles are small and grey coloured. The limbs are straight, medium sized and well-proportioned. The breed has characteristic sweeping horns which are directed backwards up. The bulls of the breeds are sturdy and active. They are mainly used for ploughing and transport. Cow are poor milkers Kangayam. Kangayam breeds exist in the south east parts of Coimbatore in tamil nadu. A private breeder in Palayamkottai is maintaining an important herd of this breed. The cattles of this breed are of moderate size and the colour of the body is white or grey with black marking the horns are strong and are curved upwards and outwards. Cows are poor milkers and yields about 2kg of milk per day. The bullocks are strong and active. They are normally employed for ploughing and road transport. Nagore The home of this breeds is Nagore and thodpur districts of Rajasthan. Bulls are very sturdy and used as trotters in tongas of North India. Cows are small and are poor milkers. Malvi This is a common draft breed of central India especially of Gwalior, Indore and Bhopal stations. They are reared on Natural grazing supplemented by fodder crops. The bullocks are used to plough cotton soil and for transport. The cows are poor milkers.

Hallikar. Commonly found in the south Indian states, predominantly in karanataka. Hassan and tumkur regions of Karnataka are the home places of this breeds. The Hallikar bullocks are draft breeds. They are used for Heavy ploughing. Transporting and other field works. Cow produce very little milk. Dairy Breeds. The cows of this groups are high milk yielder with extended lactation periods. The bullockers are of poor draft qualities. The cattles of these breeds are well built with strong limbs and loose sking examples are Deoni. Gir, Sindhi and Sahiwal. Deoni; Deoni breed is found in the north western and western parts of Andhra Pradesh. This breed has great resemblance to the Gir breed of Kathiawar. Colour varies from black, red or white. Head is medium sized with a moderate forehead. The horns are curved backward and outward. Ears are long, leaf like and drooping the udder is fairly large with medium sized teats. Tail whip- like, nearly reaching the ground. Deoni cows yield fairly large amount of milk the yield being about 1200-1500Kg of milk in one lactation periods of 300 days. The bullocks are moderate workers in the fields. Gir The breed originated from Gir forests of Kathiawar. The body is well built with clear cut lines the pure breed has a majestic appearance. Udder is large with matching teats. Gir cow s are good milk yielders. On and average about 1750Kgs of milk is yielded in a lactation of 330 days. Well bred and well maintained cows yield even upto 3500Kgs of of milk in one lactation. The bullocks are well built and are employed for draft purposes. Gir breed is the best beef cattle in India. Sindhi( Red Sindhi). The breed originated in west Pakistan and Karachi and then spread along the Banks of Indusriver. Pedigrees of sindhi breed are Found in Punjab, Haryana Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Bodys is usually red in colour, sometimes with white markings. The udder is large with medium sized teats. The animals are docile and quiet. Sindhi cows are the most economical milk producers among the dairy breeds of India. On an average about 2000Kgs of milk are yielded in one lactation. In exceptional and well maintained cases the yield goes up to 6000Kgs. The sindhi bulls are medium sized and are employed in cart pulling and field tilling. Sahiwal. An important milk breed of India, medium sized and coloured reddish dull. The breed is mainly found in the dry areas of Punjab but many pedigrees of the breeds are now maintained in far off states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and many other South central States. The breeds is more adapted to tropical conditions and do not thrive in wet climates. Sahiwal is a good

dairy breed in India. 3000 to 3250 Kgs of milk are yielded in one lactation of 300 days. In certain cases of good maintenance the yield is as high as 5000 Kgs. The bulls are Lethargic and slow and are normally employed for light and slow workers. Dual Purpose Breeds Cattles of this breeds are meant for both milk yield and draft work. The cows are fairly good milkers and the bullocks are sturdy and are useful in draft works like ploughing the field, transport, cart pulling etc. important examples are Hrayana, Krishna Vballey breed and Ongole. Haryana. Home of this breed is Rohtak, Karnal and hissar regions of Haryana. Pure breeds occur widely in India. Legs are sturdy with well-shaped hoofs. Tail is fine and thin with a black switch. It reaches half way between hock and the ground. Udder is well developed with large teats. Haryana cows are good milkers. They give about 1000 1500 Kgs of milk in one lactation. Cases are reported where the yield is as high as 4200 Kgs. The bullocks are well built and active. They are employed for fast ploghing. And road transport. Krishna Valley Breed. This breed originated from the valley of river Krishna in the South parts of Andhra Pradesh and Bombay. The body is generally greyish white with darker patches on the head and rear regions. The cows are fairly good milk yielders and the bulls are powerful animals for draft works. Ongole (Nellore). As the breeds name suggests, this originates from Nellore and Guntur districts of Andhra Pradesh. It also occurs in the districts of Krishna and Godavari. The breed is comparatively a large form. The mature males weigh about 700ks and females about 400kg. Ongole breeds is usually white in colour with grey marking on the head, neck, hump and other quarters. Head is Medium sized with broad and slightly prominent forehead. A well-developed hump is present. The horns are stumpy and they grow outwards and inwards. The body is long neck is neck is short and the limbs are sturdy and muscular. Udder of the breed is moderate sizes with small evenly placed teats. Ongloe is good dual purpose breed. The cows are docile and yields about 1700 Kgs of milk per Lactation. The yield can be as high as 3500 kgs with proper feeding and care. The bullocks are hefty and active and are usually employed for ploughing field and pulling carts. Tharparkar (Grey Sindh). Home place of this breed is the dry Tharparker district of Pakistan. The breed is now found in states of India like Maharashtra and Rajasthan. The bodys is well built and medium sized with a broad forehead. Horns are well proportioned and they curve upwards and outwards. The base of the horns are very thick and the tips are blunt. Tail is long with a black switch. Udder is of large size with well developed large teats. The cows of this breed yield nearly 1200kgs of milk per lactation. The wekll fed and well maintained cases, about 2300kgs per lactation is obtained. The bullocks are sturdy and are utilized mainly for cart and plough works.

EXOTIC BREEDS OF CATTLE Many milk yielding breeds of cattle are imported and reared in India. The exotic breeds are successfully crossed with indigenous breeds to obtain cross breeds, which have sufficiently good desirable characteristics than pure indigenous forms. European breeds are the first kinds of exotic breeds introduced in India about 70 years back. Important ones are short horns, Ayrshires, Holstein-Friesian, Jersey, Brown Swiss and Guernsey. Breeding farms are now established in many states to rise cross breeds and improve the milk yielding capacity of indigenous cows. At present about 3,500 herds of cross breeds cows present in India today is approximately 2.2 million. Jersey: Among the different breeds of cattle, Jersey breed is the smallest. Jersey cows are well proportioned forms with high yield of milk. The cows has an average weight of 425 kg and the bull about 700kg They donot have high value for meat purpose because of the small size. Moreover the body fat has a yellow colour, which is considered undesirable. The colour of the breed ranges from white to dark grey , which is broken and found as patches. The Jersey breed of cattles originated from Channel Islands, which includes islands of Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney, all situated in the English Channel. Maintenance of Jersey breed is very economical. The cows are short with straight top lines, level run-up and sharp withers. Jerseys have good udders with large teats. These cows produce about 3500Kg of milk and 175 Kg of fat yearly. Jersey milk has the highest milk-fat % (nearly 5.3 %). The milk has a characteristic yellow colour because of high carotene content. Jersey are nervous and sensitive animals. The bulls are more vicious than other breeds. Jersey breed of cattles are good grazers and their main feed is pasture grass. Cross breeding of Jeresy and indigenous Sindhi produced excellent cross breeds with an average production of 2,048 kg of milk per lactation. Jersey-Haryana crosses also gave good cross- breeds with more than 2000 kg of milk yield in one lactation Holstein Friesian. This is the most prevalent breed in USA. The cows weigh about 750 kg and the bulls about 1100 kg