Age at First Calving Used with Milk Yield during First Lactation to Predict Lifetime Production of Indian Cattle

Abstract

India has 176 million head of cattle (1950), one quarter of the world's cattle population, far more than needed for economical production of milk and draft power. Unprofitable cattle utilize too much of the available feed supply. If these unproductive cattle were culled, better environment and feed could be provided for those which have economic value. However, the rate of improvement of the cattle population would be a direct reflection of the accuracy of the culling. To bring about the most rapid increase in the productive potentialities of the cattle, breeding and selection methods need to be developed which are applicable to the Indian breeds in their native country. The use of such methods, coupled with educational and political programs for overcoming backward practices now prevalent in cattle husbandry, should tend to alleviate some of the conditions which for years have blocked cattle improvement. One of the few places in India where efforts have been made to improve cattle husbandry from the standpoint of breeding and selection, as well as nutrition and management, is the Allahabad Agricultural Institute, a Christian college established in 1910. The long history of dairying at this institute has been summarized in several reports by Hutchinson and Joshi (4), Schneider (10), Rathore (8), and Stonaker et al. (13). From 1910 until 1934, improvement of the native cattle was attempted by crossing five Indian breeds with four European breeds. Although the resulting first generation crossbreds were satisfactory, the continuation of the program presented several difficulties, such as the need for continually importing bu]ls of European breeds. Since 1934, two specific breeding projects have been followed: (a) selective breeding within the Red Siudhi breed and (b) crossbreeding of Red Sindhi females to Jersey males followed by backcrossing with Red Sindhi males. Genes for high milk production were expected to be introduced from the Jersey breed, and heat tolerance and disease resistance were expected to be retained through backcrossing to Red Sindhi. All females born in the Agricultural Institute herd have been retained until they have completed at least one lactation with the exception of those that died or were nonbreedcrs. Culling was based on production during the first lactation,