A Note on Traditional Breeding Practices among Maldharis of Banni
Region of Kutch District of Gujarat
P.V.Jadav, Ramesh Bhatti and Sabyasachi Das
Abstract
The Banni
area was known as largest grassland of the Asia spreads over about 3000 sq.km.
Free grazing based animal husbandry system of Kachchh is characterized by its
source of fodder. In this system part of fodder supply comes large from pasture
land in the form of free grazing. These pasture land is characterized by its
very low to negligible slopes. Jat and Mutvas are main communities engaged with
this type livelihood system. The maldhari (wealth/animal owners), as the
pastoralists call themselves, have over the several centuries developed and
conserved one of the best blood lines for the buffalo, in this ecosystem.
Maldharis keep 10 to 90 banni buffaloes. Mostly natural breeding
practice is followed in Banni region of Kutch. The Maldharies practice
selective breeding. Male buffaloes are selected for breeding purposes based on
their true breed characteristics, dam’s milk production and body confirmation
from their own vathan. Breeding males are exchanged between nearby villages
after 3 – 4 years regularly, to avoid inbreeding. Many pastoral and
agro-pastoral communities keep detailed mental records of their animals’
ancestry, reportedly up to 3rd to 4th generation back.
Key words
Banni, Maldharis, Conservation, Breed, Vathan
Introduction:-
Gujarat state is blessed with best germplasm of buffalo in the world.
The breeds, Mehsana, Jaffarabadi, Surti and the emerging “Banni Buffalo” have
been known for higher productivity, disease resistance, playing a specific role
in maintaining vibrant, stable ecosystem, adapted to vagaries of environment
and providing rural livelihood security in the state.
Banni buffalo, the unique and valuable germplasm
of Kutch maintained under typical and locally adapted extensive production
system and the only source of livelihood for maldharis (Animal breeders) in
Banni region of Kutch.
Banni is home to 45 small hamlets of Muslim
nomadic pastoralists and Meghwal Hindus. The Banni area, once upon a time, was
known as largest grassland of the Asia, spreads over
bout 3000 sq.km
area. The soils of Banni are sandy to silt loam with lenses of clay. On account
of high silt and clay content, the overall permeability of the soil is low and
as a result the vertical and lateral movement of surface and sub is
considerably inhibited causes surface water logging and flooding during rainy
season. Which restrict the cultivation of land and since time immemorial the
land is kept for grazing purpose only. Large number of grass varieties, from
sweet grasses to salt tolerance grasses and short to tall grass, grow in the
Banni area after the rainy season. Such rich and diverse grassland supports
buffalo rearing occupation in area.
Free
grazing based animal husbandry system of Kachchh is characterized by its source
of fodder. In this system part of fodder supply comes large from pasture land
in the form of free grazing. These pasture land is characterized by its very
low to negligible slopes. This system is dominant in the Banni area and
sporadically in eastern and western part of Kachchh. Rabari, Jat and Mutvas are
main communities engaged with this type livelihood system.
The
maldhari (wealth/animal owners), as the pastoralists call themselves, have over
the several centuries developed and conserved one of the best blood lines for
the buffalo, in this ecosystem. The genetic makeup of these unique animal gives
it the ability to free graze in the night to avoid the harsh high temperatures
of the day; and handle the stress of temperature difference and little fodder
in droughts and yet when fed well can produce twice the milk than any other indigenous
animal in the country! This made the Banni buffalo gain renown in white
revolution, and sold all over west India. Today, it commands amongst the
highest price in the country. Well bred animals are sold for 50-70,000/-
rupees. National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR), Karnal and
Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University (SDAU) genotyping work
confirms that the Banni Buffalo is a distinct breed. It will soon be recognized
as the 11th distinct buffalo breed in India, paving the way for the Banni
pastoralists to further realize benefits for their conservation efforts.
A pilot
Survey was conducted by Sahjeevan AHKC Unit to know the general
management practices of Banni Maldhari to rearing the Banni Buffalo. We have
more focus on breeding practices of Banni buffalo in its native
tract. In breeding practice we have cover the care and Management of
Buffalo calves for rearing, health status of breeding bulls, selection criteria
of bull for breeding as well as market facilities. For that we have develop one
questionnaire form to know the current situation of breeding practices
of Banni Maldhari. Questionnaire include feeding and care of newly born calf,
criteria for selecting bull, care and management of bull in
Breeding season, selling of male and female animal in a year, Selling
of milk and other health related matter.
Methodology:-
We prepare
one survey form to know the husbandry practices of Banni buffalo in this area.
We include detail of care and management, health status, breeding practices and
marketing facilities in questionnaire form. Survey done with participatory
methods through informal interviews, talks with local experts and group
discussions. First we fill up the 2-3 form in villages/Vandh of Banni and then
give final touch to the questionnaire form with necessary alteration. It is
important to record the local terminology used to describe the breeds and to
understand local breeding goals.
1. Form fill up by discussion with
maldharies
2. Field visit to know other details
Finding / Result:-
Buffalo type in
this system is Sindhi which are locally known as Banni (Due to name
of Area) or Kundi (Due
to its coiling horn shape). This buffalo is good milk yielder if fed well and
hence has high demand in dairying activity of the south Gujarat and
Mumbai. As per the maldharis survey well maintained animals fetches price
Higher Prices is Between Rs. 50,000 to 75,000. and Average shelling Price is
Rs. 25000 to 45000 The average milk yield of this animal is ranging from 12 to
18 liters per day.
Origin: -
After
survey we have came to know that Banni buffalo is one of the most popular breed
of Gujarat. Basically this buffaloes are coming from Sindh area (Kadhan
and Luhari) of Pakistan before partition of India-Pakistan. After that
these buffaloes are adapted to local condition of Kutch (repeated droughts, low
availability of water, high ambient temperatures and low humidity etc.). Now
they have identify as Banni which does not having any similarity with Murrah or
any other Indian buffaloes.
Characteristics:-
Physical:-
Banni buffalo is mostly black (95%) in colour as well as brown (5%). They have got elongated and straight wide forehead with no slop towards horn base. Horns are tightly coiled vertically with single to double coiling. The neck is thin & medium in the female and thick and heavy in the male. Forelegs are short and heavy and hind legs are medium and equally placed. The udder is well developed and bowel to round shaped. Teats are conical with round/pointed tips. Chest is deep with narrow brisket and shoulders are well blend with body. The tail is medium, almost touching the hock joint or little big. Banni buffalo is thinner at anteriorly while broader and well built posterior and well built body barrel.
Morphological (cm) and Performance Traits
Sr.No
|
Traits
|
Mean + S.E.
|
||||||||||
1
|
Body
length
|
153.70 + 0.37
|
||||||||||
2
|
Heart
girth
|
205.53 + 0.58
|
||||||||||
3
|
Height at
Withers
|
136.68 + 0.17
|
||||||||||
4
|
Face
length
|
53.66 + 0.16
|
||||||||||
Key Productivity
|
Breed
|
|||||||||||
parameters
|
||||||||||||
Banni
|
Jafarabadi
|
Mehsani
|
Surti
|
Murrah
|
||||||||
Age at First Calving
(Years)
|
3-3.5
|
4 - 4.5
|
3.5–4
|
3.5–4
|
3.5-4
|
|||||||
Calving Interval
(months)
|
12-14
|
18-24
|
15-16
|
15-18
|
16
|
|||||||
Lactation Yield (lts)
|
2500-2700
|
2000-2400
|
1600-1800
|
1500-1800
|
1700-2200
|
|||||||
Lactation Length
(days)
|
290-295
|
302-310
|
352
|
350
|
300
|
|||||||
Fat (%)
|
7-8
|
9-10
|
7 – 7.5
|
7 – 7.5
|
6.9
|
|||||||
Service Period
(days)
|
60-70
|
180
|
140-160
|
170
|
160-180
|
|||||||
Dry Period
|
71.75 + 1.42
|
|||||||||||
Number of
Chromosomes (2n) = 50 (48 XX/48 XY), Autosomes pairs = 24 Sex chromosome pairs
= 1 (Female XX or Male XY).
Morphology: Submetacentric (autosomes) first 5 pairs and next 19 pairs
acrocentric (autosomes), X chromosome acrocentric (largest) and Y chromosome
smallest acrocentric.
Management: -
Banni
buffaloes are kept as loose in Vathan or Personal Vada of Maldharies
in villages of Banni area. Maldharis never tied their animals. The animals are
brought up on a free grazing model where they leave, along with the other
animals of the village in the evening and only return in the morning. They feed
on the rich diversity of grasses and shrubs in the open grasslands of banni and
can cover up to 10-12 km in a single night. In Monsoon when grasses are in
ample amount then they can cover only 3-4 km, in winter animals can cover 5-6
km and in summer season they might have to cover about 10-12 km to gain their
feed requirement. During milking they are given certain amount of concentrate
feed additionally. In day time animals stay and rest near owner houses or under
trees in the villages. In noon they also mud in the water area near water
source to maintain body temperature.
Animals are fed concentrate in early morning
during milking the animals. This is one of the reasons for that animal came
back to villages in early morning conditionally to get concentrate feeding. A
mature bull and heifer are also went for grazing
Table: - 1 Fodder source in Banni area
Fodder Source
|
Good
Rainfall Year
|
Bad Rainfall Year
|
|||||
M
|
W
|
S
|
M
|
W
|
S
|
||
Green grass from Wasteland
|
|||||||
Dry grass from Wasteland
|
|||||||
Rainfed produce direct
|
|||||||
Green fodder purchased
|
|||||||
Short distance migration
|
|||||||
Long distance migration
|
|||||||
Putting animal in cattle camp
|
|||||||
Above table
explains the fodder source of this system. Free grazing starts after good
rainfall year in the area and up to the summer it is continuing. Now a day the
shortage of grasses takes place
During Drought condition they are
migrating in near by area of Kutch (Internal) where the grasses are available
for grazing. If Grasses are not available in Kutch district then they do
external migration towards the southern Gujarat and even out of Gujarat also.
Care & Management of buffalo calves: -
Maldharis
are taking care of newly born buffalo calves. As per discussion with maldharis
they said that they provide milk to male calf up to 6 month to 1 year @
3-6 liter/Day as per capacity and interest of Maldharis (One-Two Teat). When a
calf is born its rumen will not be developed and it will take a few months
until rumen is fully developed and start functioning. Until then the calf is
similar to a simple-stomached animal nutritionally. They also provide milk to female
calf up to 2 month to 6 month @ 3-6 lit/day (one – two teat). After 3-4
month they are providing certain amount of palatable roughage to the
calves. After that they are going to grazing with herd. They also offer
concentrate from 4 month as per consumption capacity of calves from 0.5 to 1
Kg/day. Some of the maldharis also give ghee to the calves.
Breeding Practices:
Breeder: - “A person, who practices the vocation of mating carefully,
selected specimens of the same breed to reproduce specific, consistently
replicable qualities and characteristics”.
After study
we have to know that maldharis keep 10 to 90 banni buffaloes. For
breeding of their herd (Buffaloes) they keep one good breeding bull within the
herd. Mostly natural breeding practice is followed in Banni
region of Kutch. So in banni all maldharis play an important role as a
breeder himself.
In this
area people do not knowing the sign of estrus (Heat) in animals because they do
not need to notice due to natural breeding. Also animals went to grazing in
grassland of banni during early morning and in night hours, so this is very
difficult to know that when and where animal come in heat. In Artificial
Insemination (AI) technique owner must have knowledge of estrus sign and proper
time of insemination. If timed AI is not occur than Maldhari lost one month
income because animal remain unproductive 1 month extra. AI technique is most
useful and effective tools for quick breed improvement programme. In AI
technique qualified person is required and also
need to take certain hygienically steps. All the requirement of this technique
is very difficult to maintain in this region. The preliminary studies on the
key productivity parameters reveal that the Banni buffalo is much above the
other buffalo breeds of India, especially in view of the harsh, dry
environmental conditions in which they live! In addition to that Banni buffalo
is yet not recognized hence Semen for AI is also not available of Banni
Buffalo. So if AI practiced in such condition than cross breeding take place
will be deteriorating the genetic purity of Banni Buffalo.
So in this
area Natural breeding is much suitable in this extensive animal husbandry
system. One saying is very popular in animal husbandry that “Bull is half of
the Herd”. Hence in breeding programme selection of bull is one of the
major task for maintaining purity and improvement of any breed.
The
Maldharies practice selective breeding. Male buffaloes are selected for
breeding purposes based on their true breed characteristics, dam’s milk
production and body confirmation from their own vathan. Breeding males are
exchanged between nearby villages after 3 – 4 years regularly, to avoid
inbreeding. Many pastoral and agro-pastoral communities keep detailed mental
records of their animals’ ancestry, reportedly up to 3rd to 4th generation
back.
Some of the criteria they keep in mind while selecting a bull are:
·
the health
and strength of the animal
·
The horns
are equal in shape and size
·
information
on the pedigree of the animal,
·
weather its
ancestors have ever fallen ill or died due to disease,
·
Beauty of the Bull is well defined amongst the breeders! And play an
equally important role in the selection of an animal. Some pastoralists have a
fetish for a white mark, often on the forehead or around the hoof,
·
They also consider the behavioral aspects of the animal such as
complacency, good mothering instincts, ability to be part of a large herd (team
work!), etc.
·
Ability to
walk long distances.
Note: - some of the
maldharis doesn’t use bull of their own Vathan but they select the bull from near by area for breeding their animals. They
also noticed that if they use homegrown bull, their progeny may be detoriated
(Probably due to inbreeding).
Health status &
Awareness:-
Due to
loose housing system in Vathan, animals remain in one common place. So there
are more chances of spreading infectious diseases in animals e.g. outbreak of
Sheep Pox is recently occur in Banni as well as in Nakhatrana, Mundra and
Abdasa talukas of Kutch. Mastitis is also one the major infectious disease
appears in large scale. Maldhari does not take hygienic care of their animals or
not aware regarding importance of hygienic condition. Even ectoparasitic
problem is also in considerable amount in such area due to lack of hygienic
condition in Vathan/Vada. Respiratory diseases are also appearing may be due to
dust and smoke of Charcoal business. All the maldharis knowing commonly
occurring diseases and they also have certain traditional knowledge for
treating such diseases. Veterinary facilities are not so good because Banni is
a remote area and distances between villages are far away. A few interested
maldharis are aware regarding vaccination for important infectious diseases of
the
region (e.g. FMD, HS) and they vaccinated
their animals regularly by their own extra efforts.
They do not
have knowledge regarding brucellosis. They are not aware that due to such
diseases abortion can take place in pregnant animal. They just know that
abortion can occur only due to polluted water (detergent mixed water), High
temperature or due to certain injuries
(falling in ground, fight with other
animals etc.).
So in this area, awareness programme on such area is necessary to save
this valuable
germ plasm of Gujarat.
Table-2:- List of maldharis included in Survet and their herd size.
Animal
|
||||||
Sr.No
|
Maldhari Names
|
Village
|
Male
|
Fem
|
Calf
|
Total
|
1
|
Vaydhana Amad Hingorja
|
Nani Daddhar
|
1
|
9
|
2
|
12
|
2
|
Bhachaya Majana Node
|
Moti Daddhar
|
1
|
9
|
5
|
15
|
3
|
Alim Gulmamad
|
Moti Daddhar
|
1
|
7
|
8
|
16
|
4
|
Amad Juma
|
Vadhura
|
1
|
18
|
21
|
40
|
5
|
Bhachubha Ismail Sumara
|
Dedhiya
|
1
|
15
|
14
|
30
|
6
|
Maherali Bhachaya Halepotra
|
Maherali Vandh
|
2
|
66
|
22
|
90
|
7
|
Haji Adu Haji Abdulla Mutava
|
Gorevali
|
2
|
38
|
10
|
50
|
8
|
Mamdali Nurbhai Mutva
|
Mithadi
|
1
|
12
|
12
|
25
|
9
|
Malukbhai Hasam Mutva
|
Nani Mithadi
|
1
|
12
|
3
|
16
|
10
|
Bhimkhan haji Majid Mutva
|
Adyang
|
1
|
17
|
7
|
25
|
11
Haji Mamad Sumara
|
Sargu road
|
1
|
13
|
6
|
20
|
|
12
|
Haji Musa Haji Abbas Node
|
Ludiya
|
2
|
25
|
23
|
50
|
13
|
Alana Mukim Rayshipotra
|
Hodko
|
1
|
10
|
2
|
13
|
14
|
Hasam Idrish Halepotra
|
Hodko
|
2
|
40
|
18
|
60
|
15
|
Sau Suleman
|
Vadhura
|
1
|
7
|
2
|
10
|
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We thank Sandeepbhai Virmani, Executive officer
and Miss Krupa Dholakiya, Programme Executive of Sahjeevan, Bhuj, for the
guidance and facilities provided.
References:-
A textbook of Animal Husbandry (Eighth
Edition) by G.C.Banerjee.
Animal Husbandry action plan for Kachchh
district (2004),
Prepared by Arid Communities and Technologies (ACT) submitted to IRMA, Anand.
(Report on Supplementary work)
http://www.gtz.de,
Issues paper,
indigenous knowledge of animal breeding and breeds
Ilse Köhler-Rollefson (2000), Management of Animal Genetic Diversity at
Community Level Lokhit
Pashu-Palak Sansthan and Ilse Köhler-Rollefson (2005), Documenting Animal
Breeds and
Breeding from a Community Perspective, Sadri, Rajasthan, India
Policy paper (2001), Conservation and
Management of Genetic Resources of Livestock, National Academy of Agriculture
Science, Dec-2001.
A study report on dairy animal
productivity of Power Patti cluster-Nakhatrana (2007) “Sahjeevan” Animal
Husbandry Knowledge Center (AHKC) Local documentation prepared by Asif Khan.
Technical bulletin/Folder No. 07/04. Banni buffalo –
Incredible germplasm of Kachchh. S.D.A.U, Sardarkrushinagar.
Article Credit:http://www.sahjeevan.org
Hi Rahul,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the good info on the breeds of gujarat. I am surprised, why you stopped writing further. It was very informative blog for me as a aspiring dairy farmer. Please give your contact, will call you some time. I can b reached at vkandiraju@gmail.com and 9494107819. Right now am abroad, so you cnnot reach me over phne until july end.
I am in California. I have water buffaloes and I am interested to import their semen. Thanks Anshu Pathak
ReplyDeleteGood information about bunny buffallo, interesting all the information for dairy farming.
ReplyDelete