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Krishna Valley cattle in India: status, characteristics and utility

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2011

S.M.K. Karthickeyan ,
R. Saravanan  and
P. Thangaraju
S.M.K. Karthickeyan
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Madras Veterinary College, Chennai 600 007, Tamil Nadu, India
R. Saravanan
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Madras Veterinary College, Chennai 600 007, Tamil Nadu, India
P. Thangaraju
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Madras Veterinary College, Chennai 600 007, Tamil Nadu, India
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Summary

The Krishna Valley breed of cattle is a draught breed able to withstand extremely hot, humid climatic conditions and which has the capacity to undertake heavy work in the black cotton soil in the valleys of the Krishna river in India. Their home tract is restricted to a few taluks (divisions within a district) of the northern parts of Karnataka. The distinguishing morphological features of the breed are the presence of a black-coloured muzzle and black shades dispersed over the body with the lower half of the scrotum also being black in colour. The average values for height, body length and chest girth are 116.4±1.2, 128.4±2.0 and 144.7±2.0 cm in cows; and 150.5±0.5, 146.0±3.0 and 191.0±1.0 cm in bullocks, respectively. The cytogenetic investigation revealed the normal characteristics of cattle chromosomes (2n=60). The microsatellite alleles occurred at frequencies of 0.0208 (ILSTS005) to 0.7604 (ETH152) with the polymorphism information content (PIC) values in the range of 0.3856 (ETH152) to 0. 7725 (ILSTS034). The breed has a relatively long productive life as the number of calvings can go up to twelve. As the number of animals of this breed remaining is only in the order of a few hundred, conservation measures are to be taken to avoid the extinction of this valuable germplasm.

Resumen

La raza bovina Krishna Valley es una raza de animal de tiro que se enfrenta con condiciones climáticas extremas de calor y humedad y posee la capacidad de trabajar bien sobre el suelo de algodón negro de los valles del río Krishna en la India. La zona de procedencia se restringe a algunos taluks (subdivisión dentro de un distrito) en la zona norte de Karnataka. Los principales rasgos morfológicos de la raza son la presencia de bozal negro y estrías negras sobre el cuerpo con con la mitad inferior del escroto negro. La media de los valores de altura, longitud corporal, y circunferencia en las vacas han sido de 116,4±1,2, 128,4±2,0 y 144,7±2,0 cm; y de 150,5±0,5, 146,0±3,0 y 191,0±1,0 cm en machos. La investigación citogenética muestra características normales en los cromosomas bovinos (2n=60). Los alelos de microsatélites están presentes en frecuencias de 0,0208 (ILSTS005) hasta 0,7604(ETH152) con valores de información contenida de polimorfismo (PIC) entre 0,3856 (ETH152) y 0,7725 (ILSTS034). La raza posee una vida productiva larga ya que el número de partos puede llegar a doce. Teniendo en cuenta que el número total de animales de esta raza es tan solo de unos centenares, las medidas de conservación se hacen necesarias para evitar la extinción de este valioso germoplasma.

Keywords

Krishna Valley cattleCharactersConservationPerformanceKaryotype
Type
Research Articles
Information
Animal Genetic Resources/Resources génétiques animales/Recursos genéticos animales , Volume 39 , April 2006 , pp. 25 - 37
Copyright
Copyright © Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 0000

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References

List of References

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