Should we conserve our indigenous cattle?

Specialized exotic (mainly temperate) breeds have been crossed with indigenous breeds to combine the high productivity of the former with adaptive attributes of the latter

Livestock and poultry is a very important component of agriculture with respect to achieving national food and nutritional security and employment generation. In livestock sector, the choice of breeding method, pure breeding alone, also using crossbreeding or breeding for a synthetic breed is perhaps the most important decision to be made while designing a breeding programme. Crossbreeding has principally been applied in the tropics to exploit breed complementarities. Specifically, specialized exotic (mainly temperate) breeds have been crossed with indigenous breeds to combine the high productivity of the former with adaptive attributes of the latter. More than 90 per cent dairy cattle farms practice crossbreeding in USA to boost their milk production. Only 5 to 10 per cent dairy farms follow pure breeding to maintain the purity of breed. It is noteworthy that crossbreeding is widely practiced in USA followed by conservation of purebred through establishing specific breed association. Holstein Association USA, was formed in 1885 to maintain herd books and record pedigrees of cattle in the US. In contrast what can we see in Bangladesh? Exotic cattle breed was introduced in Bangladesh to upgrade the indigenous cattle for increasing milk production since 1930, most importantly Holstein Friesian in 1967.

For commencing any crossbreeding program in tropical region International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) discussed the importance of conserving local cattle breeds in their different modules considering the favourable characteristics of indigenous cattle such as heat tolerance, resistance to different infections, ability to thrive on low quality grasses, cost of treatment and suitability for low input management system. If it is not followed total livestock production system could be jeopardized in near future. Different livestock farms and companies are importing semen of Holstein cattle and rural farmers of Bangladesh are very interested to have their indigenous cow bred using the semen of exotic cattle for getting immediate increased milk production. Record keeping is being totally neglected at the field level. Farmers are not aware of keeping pedigree record and there are no regulations for maintaining record at the farmers’ house. Most importantly animal identification system is the prerequisite for record keeping which is totally absent in Bangladesh. This leads to the production of 50%, 62.5% and 75% Holstein cattle in the villages where recommended infrastructure for crossbreeding is absent. Improved fodder production and availability of concentrates are not ensured for crossbreeding resulting in anestrous, irregular calving, and lack of optimum production from crossbred animal which increase the production cost of farmers. The nutrient requirement of 50% Holstein is not the same as that of 75 per cent Holstein because nutrient requirement varies from genotype to genotype. This jeopardized production system cannot bring the desired economic improvement of the farmers.

On the other hand, if this trend of unplanned breeding program continues, it will result in the loss of potential indigenous cattle in the long run and will increase the dependency of importation of semen. Total breeding program of Bangladesh will collapse due to lack of pure indigenous cattle and animal breeding researchers will not get any indigenous bovine genetic resource for beginning any selection program. Taking the importance of conservation of potential indigenous cattle into consideration, a USDA funded Red Chittagong Cattle (RCC) Project was launched in 2004 under the leadership of Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. The objectives of the project were the conservation and development of Red Chittagong cattle as potential dairy cattle of Bangladesh. With the limited fund, the project was successful (is still running) to some extent with regards to identify, characterize, evaluate the potentiality, policy adoption, national and international awareness building and networking in favour of RCC in Bangladesh. The RCC results have clearly indicated their well adaptation and performance in other plain lands of the country too. As a result there has been a growing demand of RCC across the country and foreign scientists also have shown their keen interest as well. Since the grant fund was limited it was not possible to establish a large elite herd for continuous supply of breeding bull or semen to breed the cows in the field. Therefore, RCC farmers are getting their cows bred using the semen of different exotic breeds and their uncontrolled/unjustified crosses (Holstein Friesian, Sahiwal, Jersey etc) which is posing a big threat to dilute the purity of RCC again. Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI) has taken some community organized initiatives to conserve and improve the RCC in 2010s but there were no sustained initiatives by BLRI for conservation and development of this indigenous cattle breed of Bangladesh. Pure breeding and crossbreeding are not mutually exclusive. FAO and ILRI are launching many projects for preventing the extinction of indigenous cattle breeds from different corners of the world.

Despite knowing the science and rationale of conserving the indigenous cattle, still there are no signs of running science led pure breeding program with long-term collaborative efforts among elite farmers, private entrepreneurs and national organizations (DLS, BLRI and agricultural universities). Emphasis should be given on the establishment of specific breed association that must maintain the standard herdbooks and pedigree records. We should not be tempted of getting immediate output from unplanned and erratic crossbreeding program. Reduction of the dependency of importing semen of pure exotic breeds of unknown merit at the expense of our currency and their indiscriminate use in the country are big concern as well. If this trend continues, afraid that the deficiency of fulfilling the demand of national milk and meat will ever be achieved!! So, to meet up the demand of milk and meat, it is high time government should form an apex national livestock breeding body to set up planned selective breeding to ensure the conservation and improvement of indigenous cattle breeds of the country vis a vis defined rigid crossbreeding program to develop stable high yielding variety (HYV) in Bangladesh. The same basic breeding principle could equally be applied for other livestock and poultry species development in Bangladesh. The most important issue is, time is running very quickly and hence we must act quickly.

The writer is a Professor, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics

Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh 2202

E-mail: [email protected]

Should we conserve our indigenous cattle?

Specialized exotic (mainly temperate) breeds have been crossed with indigenous breeds to combine the high productivity of the former with adaptive attributes of the latter

Livestock and poultry is a very important component of agriculture with respect to achieving national food and nutritional security and employment generation. In livestock sector, the choice of breeding method, pure breeding alone, also using crossbreeding or breeding for a synthetic breed is perhaps the most important decision to be made while designing a breeding programme. Crossbreeding has principally been applied in the tropics to exploit breed complementarities. Specifically, specialized exotic (mainly temperate) breeds have been crossed with indigenous breeds to combine the high productivity of the former with adaptive attributes of the latter. More than 90 per cent dairy cattle farms practice crossbreeding in USA to boost their milk production. Only 5 to 10 per cent dairy farms follow pure breeding to maintain the purity of breed. It is noteworthy that crossbreeding is widely practiced in USA followed by conservation of purebred through establishing specific breed association. Holstein Association USA, was formed in 1885 to maintain herd books and record pedigrees of cattle in the US. In contrast what can we see in Bangladesh? Exotic cattle breed was introduced in Bangladesh to upgrade the indigenous cattle for increasing milk production since 1930, most importantly Holstein Friesian in 1967. For commencing any crossbreeding program in tropical region International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) discussed the importance of conserving local cattle breeds in their different modules considering the favourable characteristics of indigenous cattle such as heat tolerance, resistance to different infections, ability to thrive on low quality grasses, cost of treatment and suitability for low input management system. If it is not followed total livestock production system could be jeopardized in near future. Different livestock farms and companies are importing semen of Holstein cattle and rural farmers of Bangladesh are very interested to have their indigenous cow bred using the semen of exotic cattle for getting immediate increased milk production. Record keeping is being totally neglected at the field level. Farmers are not aware of keeping pedigree record and there are no regulations for maintaining record at the farmers house. Most importantly animal identification system is the prerequisite for record keeping which is totally absent in Bangladesh. This leads to the production of 50%, 62.5% and 75% Holstein cattle in the villages where recommended infrastructure for crossbreeding is absent. Improved fodder production and availability of concentrates are not ensured for crossbreeding resulting in anestrous, irregular calving, and lack of optimum production from crossbred animal which increase the production cost of farmers. The nutrient requirement of 50% Holstein is not the same as that of 75 per cent Holstein because nutrient requirement varies from genotype to genotype. This jeopardized production system cannot bring the desired economic improvement of the farmers. On the other hand, if this trend of unplanned breeding program continues, it will result in the loss of potential indigenous cattle in the long run and will increase the dependency of importation of semen. Total breeding program of Bangladesh will collapse due to lack of pure indigenous cattle and animal breeding researchers will not get any indigenous bovine genetic resource for beginning any selection program. Taking the importance of conservation of potential indigenous cattle into consideration, a USDA funded Red Chittagong Cattle (RCC) Project was launched in 2004 under the leadership of Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. The objectives of the project were the conservation and development of Red Chittagong cattle as potential dairy cattle of Bangladesh. With the limited fund, the project was successful (is still running) to some extent with regards to identify, characterize, evaluate the potentiality, policy adoption, national and international awareness building and networking in favour of RCC in Bangladesh. The RCC results have clearly indicated their well adaptation and performance in other plain lands of the country too. As a result there has been a growing demand of RCC across the country and foreign scientists also have shown their keen interest as well. Since the grant fund was limited it was not possible to establish a large elite herd for continuous supply of breeding bull or semen to breed the cows in the field. Therefore, RCC farmers are getting their cows bred using the semen of different exotic breeds and their uncontrolled/unjustified crosses (Holstein Friesian, Sahiwal, Jersey etc) which is posing a big threat to dilute the purity of RCC again. Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI) has taken some community organized initiatives to conserve and improve the RCC in 2010s but there were no sustained initiatives by BLRI for conservation and development of this indigenous cattle breed of Bangladesh. Pure breeding and crossbreeding are not mutually exclusive. FAO and ILRI are launching many projects for preventing the extinction of indigenous cattle breeds from different corners of the world. Despite knowing the science and rationale of conserving the indigenous cattle, still there are no signs of running science led pure breeding program with long-term collaborative efforts among elite farmers, private entrepreneurs and national organizations (DLS, BLRI and agricultural universities). Emphasis should be given on the establishment of specific breed association that must maintain the standard herdbooks and pedigree records. We should not be tempted of getting immediate output from unplanned and erratic crossbreeding program. Reduction of the dependency of importing semen of pure exotic breeds of unknown merit at the expense of our currency and their indiscriminate use in the country are big concern as well. If this trend continues, afraid that the deficiency of fulfilling the demand of national milk and meat will ever be achieved!! So, to meet up the demand of milk and meat, it is high time government should form an apex national livestock breeding body to set up planned selective breeding to ensure the conservation and improvement of indigenous cattle breeds of the country vis a vis defined rigid crossbreeding program to develop stable high yielding variety (HYV) in Bangladesh. The same basic breeding principle could equally be applied for other livestock and poultry species development in Bangladesh. The most important issue is, time is running very quickly and hence we must act quickly. The writer is a Professor, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh 2202 E-mail: [email protected]