Cattle Breeds

Cattle breeds are of three types:

1. Indigenous cattle breed
2. Exotic cattle breed
3. Cross breed

Indigenous Cattle Breed

The cattle breeds that belong to India are known as Indigenous cattle breeds. Sahiwal, gir, khillari, kenkatha, hariana, and tharparkar are a few examples of Indigenous cattle breeds.

These Indigenous cattle breeds are classified based on the utilization:

1. Milch breed
2. Draught breed
3. Dual-purpose breed

Milch breed

• These breeds are usually used for milk production.
• In milch breeds, Female breeds are better than females.
• Cows of this breed give more yield in milk production.
• Buffaloes of this breed are of poor quality.
• Examples of this breed are Sahiwal, Red Sindhi, Gir, and Deoni.

Draught breed

• These breeds are usually used for work (either on farms or on roads).
• In draught breeds, Males breeds are better than males.
• Cows of this breed give less yield in milk production.
• Buffaloes of this breed are of high quality.
• Examples of this breed are Kangayam, Siri, Khillari, etc.

Dual-purpose breed

• These breeds are intermediate Milch and draught breeds.
• Both males and females of this breed are good.
• Cows of this breed give good yield in milk production but less than the milch breeds.
• Buffaloes of this breed is of good quality but less than the draught breeds.
• Examples of this breed are Hariana, Kankrej, Tharparkar, etc.

Exotic Cattle Breed

The cattle breeds that belonged to or were developed from outside of India are known as Exotic cattle breeds. Holstein frieswal, Red Dane, Jersey, and Brown Swiss are a few examples of exotic cattle breeds.

What is Cross Breed?

The cattle breeds that had been made by humans by the crossing between an exotic breed and an indigenous cattle breed is known as a crossbreed. Karan fries, Karan Swiss, and Jar Sindh are a few examples of crossbreeds.

Karan Fries: This breed has been developed at NDRI (National dairy research institute) in which they crossed a male exotic breed (Holstein frieswal) with the female indigenous breed (Tharparkar).

Karan Swiss: This breed has been developed at NDRI (National dairy research institute) in which they crossed a male exotic breed (Brown Swiss) with the female indigenous breed (Sahiwal).

Buffalo Breeds

The scientific name of the buffalo is Bubalus bubalis, and it belongs to the family of cattle. Murrah, Surti, Jafrabadi, and Mehsana are a few examples of buffalo breeds.

Cattle farming is the branch of animal husbandry in which cattle are raised, reared, and bred for milk and other work. In cattle farming two different kinds of cattle are raised and managed that are: 

1. Used for food production, such as milk.
2. Used for labor-intensive tasks, such as field work, irrigation, etc.