Indigenous livestock breeds

Rajasthan has long been famous for the quality of its indigenous livestock breeds, which are a product of the environment and peoples’ indigenous knowledge. They include the dromedary camel, cattle, sheep, and goat breeds.

Unfortunately, for many decades the government has supported cross-breeding with exotic breeds, and has neglected to promote people’s own breeding strategies. Local and scientific breed classifications do not match, and the many indigenous breeding institutions have remained largely invisible.

One breed that has been overlooked is the Nari cattle. This breed is kept by the Raika in Sirohi district in migratory production systems. This breed is extremely hardy, gives good milk yields, and is also suitable for draught.

Another example of an indigenous breed is the Nagauri cattle – a draught breed. There is still demand for this type of oxen in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, mostly for rice cultivation. But currently it is not legally possible to export adult cattle from Rajasthan, which means that Nagauri breeders have lost an important share of their market. This is to the detriment of the breed.

Other countries such as South Africa have capitalized on their indigenous breeds and have created international demand for their animal genetic resources. Rajasthan should follow this lead.

LPPS has developed the LIFE approach for documenting livestock breeds according to the concepts and priorities of their owners. This approach is described in the book Indigenous breeds, local communities (see below).

More information

	Indigenous institutions for managing livestock genetic diversity in Rajasthan (India) by Hanwant Singh Rathore and Ilse Köhler-Rollefson, 2000 pp 47-54 in: Experiences in Farmer’s Biodiversity Management: Report on the International Workshop on Animal and Plant Genetic Resources in Agriculture at the Biosphere Reserve Schorfheide-Chorin, Germany, 16-18 May 2000. German NGO Forum on Environment & Development, Bonn. Download full text. 185 kb Click here for full workshop proceedings. 912 kb
	Indigenous breeds, local communities: Documenting animal breeds and breeding from a community perspective Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan and Ilse Köhler-Rollefson, 2005 Describes the threats to indigenous breeds of livestock, and how to document them as a first step in conserving them in collaboration with the communities where they evolved. Manual produced with support from GTZ. Download 550 kb, 80 pages
	Farm animal genetic resources: Safeguarding national assets for food security and trade by Ilse Köhler-Rollefson GTZ, FAO, CTA, 2004 Summary of four workshops on livestock genetic resources held in Mozambique, Angola, Zambia and Swaziland. Download 1163 kb, 54 pages