144
Deterioration of Cattle in Certain Parts of India
Although in humid areas pasture lands are found
here and there, yet on account of injudicious and
overgrazing by much larger number of livestock
than can be maintained on them and due to their
ill management they do not serve the desired
purpose. Not only the grazing areas should be
extended by utilizing more of the land under the
control of the Forest Department and that class-
fied as ' cultivable waste ', but what perhaps is
more important is that the existing pastures should
be properly developed and well managed. Im-
proved varieties of grasses should be introduced,
' bunding ' may be made use of, rotational
grazing, both in regard to pasture land and species
of animal grazed, should be practised allowing
restricted number of healthy livestock only,
shady trees and drinking water should be made
available, the land should be suitably dressed and
manured where the soil and plant analysis indi-
cates any deficiency, etc.
6. Trace elements. Where there is an indication
that any of the beneficial trace elements e.g. copper,
cobalt, manganese, etc. is lacking in the cattle
feed, it should be provided in a suitable form. On
the other hand, if there be evidence to believe
that any of the harmful trace elements e.g. fluorine,
selenium, etc., is present in intolerable quantities
in the diet, necessary steps should be taken to get
rid of such an element by the proper method. In
the Province of Madras fluorosis has been shown
to be the cause of rheumatic arthritis locally called
' Vayu-Potlu '. If drinking water contains 1.0
part or more of fluorine per million parts of water,
it causes fluorosis. It has been found that the
addition of lime removes the greater part of
fluorine from water and renders it harmless.
7. Resistant breeds. There is some evidence to
show that different breeds of cattle and buffaloes
vary in their ability to stand the conditions pre-
vailing in humid rice-growing tracts. Some are
more susceptible than the others, though ultima-
tely all might revert to something like the local
cattle. Undoubtedly, the local cattle having
adapted themselves, though degenerated, can
stand these conditions best. Therefore, the best
policy seems to be to imporve the local cattle on
one side by grading them up with a suitable breed
possessing sufficient ability to resist the local
environments and on the other by providing econo-
mically balanced food and freedom from parasitic
and other diseases. Under a scheme to be financed
by the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research
it is proposed to study the effect of humid climate
in rice-growing tracts on the four important breeds
of cattle and buffaloes which are largely imported
into cuch areas viz., Hariana, Sahiwal, Sindhi and
Murrah, keeping suitable controls in. a healthier
area and providing similar food in similar quanti-
ties and freedom from parasitic and other diseases.
The results of this scheme will show the order
of resistance amongst these breeds. Fig. 3
illustrates how deterioration of cattle is pro-
bably brought about in the humid areas and
briefly indicates the methods to be adopted to
remedy the same.
It is hoped that the above suggestions will be of
some interest to those who are confronted with the
problem and that they will collect systematically
where possible such data as might indicate the
suitability of certain recognized Indian breeds of
cattle for different tracts in the country where
cattle are deteriorated at present. Such data and
those to be obtained in due course under the
Imperial Council of Agricultural Research scheme
might help the livestock officers, cattle owners and
the Government in affected areas to plan a well
organized scheme of work on a large scale in order
to tackle this intricate and important problem
effectively.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author is greatly indebted to Mr F. Ware,
C.I.E., F.R.C.V.S., I.V.S.. Animal Husbandry
Commissioner with the Government of India for
valuable suggestions kindly given by him in the
compilation of this not and to Dr F. C. Minett,
D.Sc, M.R.C.V.S., Director, Imperial Veterinary
Research Institute, Mukteswar, for the two maps
kindly supplied by him to illustrate it.
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