NDDB Dairy Services engaged in conservation, promotion of rare breed of milch cows

The National Dairy Development Board Dairy Services was working towards conserving and promoting unique breeds of milch cows and bulls, particularly from southern parts of the country at the Alamadhi Semen Station, a top official said on Thursday.

The Alamadhi Semen Station of the NDDB Dairy Services in Redhills near here has about 25 breeds of bovines and sold 95.61 lakh frozen semen doses in the last financial year, Head of the Station Gunasekaran M said.

The Alamadhi Semen Station is one of the five stations that has been set up under the NDDB Dairy Services across the country. Besides Chennai, it is located in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra and Haryana.

According to him, the 'Kangayam' bulls known for their strong athleticism particularly in the popular bull taming sport 'Jallikattu' in Tamil Nadu, 'Punganur' breed from Chittoor district depicting Goddess 'Laxmi' from Andhra Pradesh and 'Vechur' from Kerala, the smallest breed in the world which has found a place in Guinness Records are the 'pride of the respective region', he said.

He pointed out that the 'Punganur' and the 'Vector' breeds were on the verge of extinction, comprising about 500 and 200 animals, respectively.

Briefing about the Alamadhi Semen Station in Redhills, he said the station provides frozen semen of healthy and disease free high genetic bulls of these breeds under the Superior Animal Genetic of NDS, a subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board for meeting the local and regional demands.

While the 'Kangayam' breed originated from the Kongu region in southern parts of Tamil Nadu, the 'Punganur' cattle consist of just a small number of 500 to 600 animals, on the verge of extinction, he said.

The 'Punganur' breed's milk has a high fat content. In comparison to the fat content from a normal cow which is about 3 to 3.5 per cent, the fat content in Punganur cattle breed is about 8 per cent.

"The cow has an average milk yield of 3 to 5 litres per day and has a daily feed intake of 5kgs. It is highly drought resistant, and able to survive exclusively on dry fodder," he said.

The 'Vechur' breed which is 124 cm in length and 87 cms tall, is the smallest cattle breed found in Vechur village in Kottayam district, Kerala.

'..it is the smallest cattle breed in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records and is valued for the larger amount of milk it produces relative to the amount of food it requires," he said.

There are about 200 'Vechur' cows today of which nearly 100 of them with the government run veterinary college, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)