Pankaj Dwivedi

Kenkatha breed of Indian zebu cattle (Bos indicus) Kenkatha or Kenwariya beeds hails fom the provinces of Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh Along the bank of the River KEN and the Vindhya ranges in Madhya Pradesh. This breeds is named after the river ken its breeding tract lies along the bank of river ken in Panna, Chhatarpur and Tikamgarh districts of M.P. and in Lalitpur Hamipur and Banda District of Uttar Pradesh. As per 19th Livestock Census, India has 190.9 million cattle, which is a major livestock species; represent about 37.3% of total Indian livestock population and 14.7% of total world’s cattle population (Anonymous, 2012). 190.9 M cattle and so far 43 registered native cattle breeds. These cattle breeds are specially adapted to different agro-climatic conditions of India and their genetic diversity is due to the process of domestication over the centuries. There is decrease of 4.10% in cattle population and 3.14% in cattle genetic resources of India as compared to the quinquennial livestock census. The exotic / crossbred population has been increased by 20.18% during the period of last census while population of indigenous cattle has been decreased by 8.94% during the same duration. The reasons for depletion of native breeds includes crossbreeding with exotic breeds, economically less viable, loosing utility, reduction in herd size and the large scale mechanization of agricultural operation. The native breeds need to be conserved for genetic insurance in future, scientific study, as a part of our ecosystem, cultural and ethical requirements and for energy sources in future. The indigenous breeds of cattle possess various unique characteristics such as the presence of unique genetic variation in HSP70 gene family, carry a ‘thermometer gene’ and presence of A2 allelic variant in cow milk, which makes them well adapted to the tropical climate.

Pages: 85-89  |  578 Views  310 Downloads