]Research Communication
TRADITIONAL ANIMAL REARING PRACTICES IN MOUNTAINS OF HIMACHAL PRADESH
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Regional Research Centre, Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute,
CSKHPKV Campus, Palampur 176 062, Himachal Pradesh
INTRODUCTION
In hilly and mountain regions, the demand of feeds and fodder for livestock is much higher than their availability. The available fodder is not only insufficient but also poor in nutritive value, as a result, the productivity of the animals is very low. Whatever fodder resources are available, their availability is also seasonal. By and large, there is shortage of fodder from November to June, but during monsoon, plenty of greens are available and there is no shortage of fodder in the months of July, August, September and October. When the monsoon season is over, the grass from grassland is harvested in dry condition and stored as hay, which is fed to the animals during scarcity. Crop residues also play an important role in animal feeding particularly during winters. The grasslands are degraded, overgrazed, contain poor quality grasses and are infested with poisonous plants like Lantana, Parthenium, Eupatorium and Ageratum. Consumption of these toxic plant species is detrimental of the health of the animals and the farmers use traditional methods of treating the animals. Apart from toxicity, various nutritional deficiencies and heavy parasitism in animals cause serious problems leading to poor productivity, infertility and high morbidity and mortality. Various bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases are also present. This paper presents the traditional animal rearing practices in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
A proforma was developed for collection of information regarding traditional animal rearing practices used by the farmers in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh. The information gathered includes age of the farmers, occupation, educational status, feed and fodder produced and conservation measures, existing feeding practices, health management practices, various feed resources used and their time of use and other interacting information. A survey was conducted using this proforma in four villages of Chamba district viz. Sarol, Kiani, Bhrore and Mangla. Face to face interviews were conducted among randomly selected 100 farmers from these villages. For collection of information regarding transhumant/migratory systems, Gaddi people in migratory route from Kukti (higher altitutde) to Gagret (plains) were interviewed.
RESULTS
It was found that majority of the farmers were landholders and the percentage of landless, marginal, small and large farmers were 4.0, 40.0, 49.0 and 7.0, respectively. The educational standard of the heads of the families showed that 36% of the heads of the families were illiterate. Out of remaining 64%, 10% had primary level education, 11% had middle, 33% had high school standard and 10% had their education up to graduation level.
Traditional feed resources and their use pattern
The fodder needs of the animals in the study area are met through traditional fodder resources which include grass harvested from grasslands, natural grazing, crop residues, tree fodder, weeds in cultivated crops, purchased concentrate feed and grain resources owned. The time of feeding of various feed resources recorded is: grass from natural grassland - July to October/November; maize stover - November to February; wheat straw - June to July and November to February; hay from grassland - November to June; weeds from wheat crop - March to May; and tree leaves - mostly from November to February. The farmers have fixed certain months for use of a certain fodder tree and this practice is strictly adhered to. A general fodder tree use pattern for important tree species used in the study area is as follows:
Common Name
Botanical
Time of use
Biul/Dhaman
Khair
Ohi
Sirin
Kachnar
Khirak
Ban
Shahtut
Bhera
Grewia optiva
Acacia catechu
Albizia chinensis
Albizia lebbeck
Bouhinia variegata
Celtis australis
Quercus leucotrichophora
Morus alba
Terminalia belerica
November to February
September to February
September to January
March to June
September to December
August to December
September to February
May to October
September to January
This time schedules for various tree fodder use have been devised by fore-fathers based on nutritive value and anti quality factors. If fed to animals during unfixed months, the tree leaf fodder could cause various ailments, sometimes fatal to the animals. P-marka and Mayur cattle feeds were used as compounded feeds by the farmers which were sold @ Rs. 260/60 Kg. The chemical analysis of these feeds indicated that these contained 15 and 14% crude protein on dry matter basis, respectively. Many cattle feeds were sold without any trade name. They were relatively cheaper by 10-20 rupees/100 Kg. As compared to above two feeds, concentrate feeds were fed only to lactating cows and working bullocks.
Species preference
Livestock play an important role in mountain farming systems. Various livestock species reared in the study area include cattle, sheep, goats and ponnies. The two common livestock-rearing systems are the sedentary and transhumant. In the transhumant system sheep and goats are the species preferred. All animals are kept grazing when they stay at high altitudes during summer. During the winter months, animals move to lower altitudes. In the sedentary system, animals are kept in the village throughout the year. Cattle and buffaloes are the preferred species and are mostly stall-fed. Some families keep small flocks of sheep and goats. All the farmers preferred cattle over buffaloes because of feeding and reproductive problems as buffaloes are more prone to reproductive problems and cannot graze on land with steep slopes. 30% of the farmers preferred indigenous cattle over crossbred. No doubt, cattle improvement programme through crossbreeding has resulted in improving the productivity and overall production in the region, but little success has been achieved in this regard. Presently, the emphasis is being given on crossbreeding on non-descript cow with Jursy. Following are the reasons why indigenous cattle are preferred over crossbred.
1. Indigenous cattle are more resistance to diseases as compared to crossbred, therefore, crossbred animals require more veterinary services to take care of their health. The farmers feel that crossbreds have a higher mortality and morbidity rate than non-descript indigenous cattle.
2. Indigenous cattle can be maintained on feeding locally available feed resources, whereas, crossbred animals require good quality feed and their production cannot be sustained without good quality fodder and/or concentrate supplementation.
3. Native cattle can cover long distances, walk on stony paths and can graze on steep slopes.
4. Native cattle are more hardy and are better adapted to mountain environment.
5. Native cattle are more resistance to external parasites as compared to crossbred cattle.
6. Indigenous cattle can convert the available feed resources into valuable products more efficiently as compared to crossbred cattle as the indigenous cattle are well adapted to locally available feed resources.
Indigenous Knowledge
Indigenous knowledge is the traditional local knowledge developed around the specific environmental conditions and their impact on human societies native to a particular geographic area. Rural people have an intimate knowledge of many aspects of their surroundings and their daily lives. They possess knowledge regarding the various animal rearing practices, e.g., which plants are toxic to the animals and which can be used for medicine, how to cure diseases and how to maintain animals in good health. Therefore, indigenous knowledge is a valuable resource. Under certain circumstances, it can be equal to or even superior to the know-how introduced by modern research. Indigenous knowledge has little or no cost and is readily available. Therefore, it is found to be socially desirable and economically affordable. Thus, it provides basis for problem solving strategies for local people. Special efforts are needed to understand, document and disseminate it. Traditional knowledge has played a great role in sustaining the livestock in the Indian Himalaya. The following information based on local knowledge with regard to veterinary practices in the study area have also been collected.
Lantana toxicity : The farmers are aware about the toxic effects of lantana poisoning which leads to skin disease, photosensitization and constipation. In case of Lantana poisoning in cattle, the farmers mostly drench sour lassi (curd thinned by adding water) to the suffering animals. Some farmers mix sour lassi with mustard oil and Aonla (Emblica officinalis) water and drench the animal during morning and evening. Mustard oil breaks constipation and sour lassi and Aonla water give relief to animal from lantana poisoning effect. Some farmers in the study area (Chamba) reported that roots of Lantana are boiled in 4-5 liters of water and when the water is reduced to half it is cooled and given to the suffering animal to cure the poisoning. 30-40 g roots of CHHOTI GAURA (a creeper found in alpine pastures) are crushed, mixed with lassi and drenched. It induces diarrhoea and breaks constipation. In case of Lantana poisoning in sheep and goats, the Gaddi people chop off the apical portion of the ear of poisoned animal and let it bleed for some time. When they feel that the toxic blood has drained out, they apply mud on the wound for stopping the blood and healing. It is not uncommon to find many animals with chopped ears in the migrating flocks of Gaddies.
Urea toxocity: Mustard oil (300ml) mixed with Terpentine oil (15ml) is given to animals. It can be repeated after 4 hour till the animal recovers.
Mouth ulcer: Black pepper, ajwain, black salt and haldi are mixed and rubbed in the mouth. Haldi acts as antiseptic, black pepper irritates the ulcers and salt increases the saliva secretion so that the saliva/material comes out.
Broken horn: Red soil is mixed with ladies hair and pasted on the broken horn and then a layer of red soil again is pasted to make it smooth.
Diarrhoea: Leaves of Sapdotri (a creeper) are crushed and given to the animal.
Foot and mouth disease: A mantra is written on the leaves of Bhuj Patra which is then covered with blue cloth and tied round the neck of the animal. The farmers are of the opinion that FMD will not occur by this mantra.
Aathrax: Mantra is read in the ear of animals (3 or 5 or 7 times) and if it is read in time, the animal can be saved.
Haemorrhagic septicemia and black quarter: Kide ki kookdi (a creeper) is mixed with butter, bolus is made and given to animal.
Abortion: Jantra is tied around the neck of the animal.
Anestrous: If the animal is not coming to heat, pigeon droppings are mixed with gur and bolus is made. It is given to animal once a day up to one week. Pigeon droppings are hot and induce heat. Feeding kow/zaitoon leaves also induces heat. 250-300 g salt is given to animal once a week. It is mixed with maize flour and inserted in the mouth of the animal. It also induces heat.
Injury: Haldi is mixed with mustard oil and the paste is applied on the wound. Bark of Arjuna tree is crushed and mixed with mustard oil and pasted on the wound.
Broken leg: In the case of broken leg, leg is tied with sticks and leaves of Bhuj tree.
Leech: Sometimes leech enters into the nose of the animals and bleeding starts. In that case, salt is dissolved in a glass of water and the salty water is poured into the nose of tha animal and after some time the leech will come out.
Bloat: Occurance of bloat is a major problem. A higher altitude, dhudhali grass is found near streams of water and consumption of this grass in large quantity leads to bloat. In this case, wooden ash is mixed with water and given to animal, it leads to dysentery. Washing soap is also mixed with water and given to animal. It also causes dysentery and gives relief to the suffering animal.
Micturation: In case of micturation, red chilly is mixed with mustard oil and the paste is applied on the sheath of the penis. It will cause irrigation.
Hair loss or maze: In the case of hair loss, which is locally known as maze, the skin becomes hard. Tobacco is boiled in water and applied on the skin with the help of cloth.
Foot and mouth disease: FMD is also a major problem. Oil of Deodara is applied on the foot for maggots.
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ENVIS Bulletin : Himalayan Ecology 12(1), 2004