Productivity of Different Species of Dairy Animals in High Altitude Regions: A Geographical Analysis in Pulwama District of Jammu &amp; Kashmir

Rafiq Hussain Andrabi,Pervez Ahmed,Harmeet Singh

doi:10.25175/jrd/2017/v36/i2/116408

Abstract

The study was conducted to assess the existing productivity performance of indigenous and cross-bred cows like Holstein Friesians and Jersey cows in terms of milk yield, age at first calving, post-partum heat, lactation length, dry period, calving interval and lactation yield across different agro-ecological zones (AEZs) of Pulwama district, as these aspects have a profound influence on the efficiency of milk production. For this study, a total of 72 dairy cows were selected randomly from three agro-ecological zones of Pulwama district i.e., Flood Plain, Karewa and Kandi. Significant difference was found within the milk yield (p<0.01), age at first calving (p<0.01), post-partum heat (p<0.01), lactation length (p<0.01), dry period (p<0.01), calving interval (p<0.01) and lactation yield (p<0.01). It was observed that productive and reproductive efficiency of exotic species mainly Jersey and Holstein Friesian remain at the top followed by local/indigenous species. The study concludes that the cross-bred cows are better performers than the indigenous cows in dairy potentialities in the study area. It also reflects that due to robust launching of livestock hybridisation programme in the district, the number of livestock is rapidly being replaced by the cross-breeding animals in order to meet the growing milk demand of the population.

Highlights

The reproductive performance of a herd or an animal is a key indicator of sustainability of a dairy farming system.,assessment of productive and reproductive performance depends on composite parameters to assess the overall performance evaluation (Islam et al, 2006)
The performance of the cross-bred cattle varies with different agro-ecological conditions.Milk production in Jammu and Kashmir is largely affected by a combination of factors, namely, genetic make-up in terms of use of improved breeds selected for milk production, a favourable nutritional environment and improved managerial practices
The milk yield, age at first calving, lactation length, lactation yield, calving interval, dry period and post-partum heat are the important features associated with dairy animals that are vital for the economic sustainability of a dairy farm

Summary

Introduction

The reproductive performance of a herd or an animal is a key indicator of sustainability of a dairy farming system.,assessment of productive and reproductive performance depends on composite parameters to assess the overall performance evaluation (Islam et al, 2006). The important parameters that determine cattle reproductive and productive efficiency are age at first service, age at first calving, birth weight, Rafiq Hussain Andrabi, Harmeet Singh and Pervez Ahmed total milk yield, average milk yield per day,calving to first service interval and calving interval (Dematawawa and Beger, 1998). They reported that these parameters are important in terms of economics of dairy management. This information could serve as the basis for the exploitation of genetic potential to further the development of dairy industry in the study area and might be useful for the policy makers in the process of planning and making accurate decisions pertaining to dairy development

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Conclusion