report

[Guest guest]

> Ramanuja das:

Our idea in starting a goshalla, and this is something myself and

Pancartana (my partner) mulled over for many years, was to help in

re-establishing this particular breed which was/is on the verge of dying

out. Our plan was to show a well run example of cow protection in action.

Had we just wanted milk, it is much easier just to buy from the farmers all

around us. Why bother with all the daily headaches of keeping animals?? But

we have found through the example Srila Prabhupada set and our own

experience from being in India the last 15 years, that the Indians do take

notice of what the foreigners do and many tend to become inspired to then go

back and re-discover their own time tested and traditional practices. Many

have asked us why we're not keeping either foreign or mixed breeds. Once we

explain that the desi breeds have qualities equal to and beyond the foreign

breeds it's a source of inspiration to them. We have a few close friends

who have gone out and bought some of these animals for their own homes.

 

Comment:

I agree with you, the Indians do watch what the foreigners are doing having

similar experiences with them. All the Indians breeds, except the new breeds

are very specialized and excel in those particular traits. In Gujarat where

they (Department of Agriculture) have been testing the different foreign

breeds (Jersey, Holstein and Swiss) and they have found that the local

breeds are much better producers under local conditions and are less

bothered by various local diseases. The Maharaja of Rajkot in the Surastra

district is noted for his large herd of pure Gyr and their high productive

achievements. Animals from his herd produce on par with Jerseys (butterfat

at almost 6 and yearly production about the same as in the States).

 

Like you have said they also have longer life spans. Most indicus breeds do

not mature until about nine (Jerseys at five and Swiss and Holsteins at

six), I have a Gyr bull (Deva) here in New Talavan who is now fourteen, he

was castrated in 1995 none of the other animals will stand their ground in

front of him. When he walks up they all move aside, with the exception of

his half brother (Bala, also 14, Gyr/Kankrej) and his oldest son (Giri

Goverdhan, eight, Gyr/Jersey). Even the herd bull (Bahu, seven - Jersey)

moves out of the way of this ox. He is not overly large weighting about

1,500 (his eldest son is 2,100) nor the tallest animal in the herd. He just

is the alpha animal.

 

> Ramanuja das:

They wouldn't have even considered an Indian breed previously because of

propaganda from the government and the "green revolution" scientisits etc.,

that the Indian breeds were useless and gave less milk. This is all fallacy.

 

Comment:

The State Government of Gujarat, as far as I know fully supports it three

native breeds (Gyr, Kankrej and the Guzerat).

 

> Ramanuja das:

The Jerseys and Holsteins do give a higher milk yield on paper, but if you

compare the input over their lifespan, plus the amount of medical attention

they need in trying to cope with the conditions over here, you'll find that

the local cows come out way in front. As I had written earlier, I have seen

Tharparkars give more milk than other Indian breeds and more than

buffalo's!! That's no mean feat. It depends on the feed, the conditions, and

most of all on the care of the animal. Many people here cannot understand

that because the local cow is all mixed with whatever, then fed 4-5 kgs. of

dry straw and a couple of left over chapatti's, then naturally you can only

expect 1 litre of milk per day. I know of people with Holsteins who are also

only getting 5-6 litres per day.

 

One of the advantages we have over here is that there are still many people

who will, and do, support cow protection. So in that sense we can cope with

less than the ideal amount of land. 73% of Indians still live in the

villages and there is not one of those 73% who do not grow fodder, either

for themselves or for the market.

 

Comment:

While on padayatra in Bihar and West Bengal, everyone approached gave rice

straw (the staple fodder) many coming with bundles without being asked.

 

> > I read one letter the other day (I think it was on this conference)

where someone had stated that it didn't matter at all what the cow was like,

because it was the bull only which determined the sex of the offspring.

 

Comment:

I am afraid that it was this conference and I am the culprit. I stand

corrected.

 

> Ramanuja das:

This is not a fact. Both the bull and the cow combined determine the sex of

the calf. A doctor friend of ours who was in charge of the Chandan Farm

Research Station in Jaiselmer (Rajasthan desert) and breeding Tharparkars

there for 30 years, had told me way back that from their long history it was

dependent on the condition of both animals. From his experience as the cow

grows older she tends to throw more bulls, but while still young there is a

greater ratio of cows.

 

Comment:

I have only 10 years experience with Usha, an Indu-Brazil cow (a breed that

is the result of crossing the Gyr with the Guzerat and the Mysore). I have

never seen her in heat but she has given a calf every year (until she was

kept separate from bulls beginning in 1996). She produced only one cow

(Subru) all the rest where bulls (five), the cow was her second calf and at

the age of eight. We tried to breed her beginning in her fourth year and

every year after that she did not breed until seven. Subru is from Deva and

at her birth he was eight. Unfortunately, I do not have milk records on Usha

(she would never let me milk), Subru has never been bred.

 

> Ramanuja das:

This I had also discussed with the Vice Chancellor of the Rajasthan

Agricultural University, who has been involved in breeding programmes with

the local breeds for more than 20 years. He was of the same opinion.

 

ys, Rohita dasa

New Talavan , Mississippi