Innovation in Livestock: Going Beyond the Possible

Abstract

It is deja vu, or should we say, deja moo. We are importing our own native Gir, the pride of our cattle breeds, from Brazil. And it was India that had provided these cattle to Brazil way back in 1849 via the USA. Out there, our Gir yields an average of around 50 litres of milk a day, compared to a measly 5/6 litres back home. There is no great mystery behind this radical performance improvement. While, aiming for improved productivity, Brazil chose the path of innovation, we focused on preservation of the purity of our breed. As a result, the biggest exporter of the native Indian breed Gir is Brazil. We have now woken up to the significance of productivity in dairy economics, and in a twist of irony, we too are importing the Gir germplasm from Brazil. Call it wooing the nonresident cattle to invest in India.