138
Deterioration of Cattle in Certain Parts of India
sodium and chlorine. It is a well-known fact that
lack of salt has an adverse effect on the health and
productivity of cattle and that the requirements
for salt are specially high in hot climates.
The extensive investigations of McCarrison
[1913] have indicated that there is a shortage of
iodine in areas in the region of the Himalayas, but
so far as is known this shortage is not associated
with high incidence of goitre and its sequelae
in cattle, though these conditions are very preva-
lent in human beings in some of the Himalayan
regions.
The economic importance of deficiency of mine-
rals in the pasture was referred to by several
witnesses giving evidence before the Royal Com-
mission on Agriculture in India. Warth [1927]
offered the opinion that it was impossible to lay
too much stress on this subject. He believed
shortage of calciu m, phosphorus, sodium and
chlorine occurred in various parts of the Empire
and that deficiency of phosphorus was perhaps the
most important Indian problem. McCarrison
[1927] who has done exceedingly valuable work
on deficiency diseases also emphasized the impor-
tance of deficiency of minerals, especially of phos-
phorus and iodine, in causing malnutrition which
he regarded as the most far-reaching cause of
disease in India. Olver [1933] has stated that one
of the fundamental causes of degeneration of
stock and loss to stock-owners is defective nutri-
tion due to ill-balance or actual deficiency of essen-
tial food ingredients.
Ware and Sen [1937] have indicated as a result
of a survey of the problem of malnutrition carried
out at the Imperial Veterinary Research Institute,
Mukteswar, that the effect of these deficiencies
is not confined to a general physical deterioration
of the stock, their productive power has been
affected, breeding difficulties have become more
common and susceptibility to certain classes of
disease has been increased. To give a few illus-
trations on the above point, mineral deficiency has
given rise to pica and osteomalacia in Madras
and Hyderabad and the stunted growth of ani-
mals in Berar has been ascribed to the same cause.
This is probably also true in parts of Bengal,
Bihar, and Assam. Milk yield in most of these
areas is low, mortality is high and sterility is
common. The disease known as 'blindness in
calves ' which is usually associated with a non-
specific form of abortion in cattle has been shown
to be due to malnutrition. It will thus be seen
that the problem of malnutrition is an all-India
one, but it may be found necessary to tackle this
subject regionally because the type of malnutrition
may not be the same in every part of the country.
They have emphasized the necessity for investi-
gations of a comprehensive nature to study the
preoblem of animal nutrition in relation to main-
tenance of health, normal growth and increased
productive capacity of animals in India. Ware
[1937] has discussed the importance of grazing in
regard to the development of cattle and dairying
industries in India and has made appropriate
suggestions for the extension and improvement of
pastures in India. Valuable studies of Indian
grasses and grasslands have been made by Burns,
Kulkarni and Godbole [1925 and 1928] with special
reference to the Province of Bombay having varied
climatic conditions and consequently different kinds
of grasslands and have made useful recommenda-
tions for the improvement and proper utilization
of grasslands.
Lander [1937] has briefly summarized the graz-
ing condition in the different provinces and has
recorded the results of chemical analysis of common
Indian fodders and grasses grown on different
soils and under different geographical and climatic
conditions and at various stages of growth. He
has also given the results of mineral survey of the
Punjab soils carried out by him. Referring to
certain special areas which are noted for the rich-
ness of natural fodder and the excellence of ani-
mals which graze it, he has stated that the most
notable of these is perhaps the Government Cattle
Breeding Farm at Hissar comprising some 37,000
acres of natural grazing land, part of which is
enclosed as irrigated paddocks. Hissar is the
home of the famous breed of Hissar cattle which
thrive to perfection on the highly nutritious
grasses found in this area. The chief of these are
(1) Anjan (Pennisetum cenchroides), (2) Bur
(Andropogon laniger), (3) Panni (Andropogon
muricatus ), (4) Palwan (Andropogon pertusus ) and
(5) Dub (Cvnodon dactylon). Anjan is the best
grass on the bir (grazing ground); it grows over
vast areas and is highly nutritious; it makes
first class hay and has proved to be a most
satisfactory ration.
Viswanath [1941] in his presidential address to
the Section of Chemistry and Biology at the 10th
Annual Meeting of the National Academy of Scien-
ces has reviewed the recent developments in the
Science of Plant and Animal Nutrition and their
significance to national nutrition and health and
has emphasized the importance and value of cattle
manure for the growing of crops. It is unfortu-
nate that at present cattle manure, an extremely
valuable fertilizer, is used more as a fuel in the
form of uplas than as a manure. His experiments
carried out in collaboration with McCarrison [1927]
and with Suryanarayana [1927] have shown that
the grain from cattle-manured crops, which showed
greater vigour and grew a better plant, also
possessed better nutritive value and higher protein
and vitamin content than the grain from the
mineral-manured or unmanured crop. Organic
manures, besides improving the physical condition