RATOON STUNTING DISEASE OF SUGARCANE

RATOON STUNTING DISEASE OF SUGARCANE

Causal Organism: Leifsonia xyli Subsp. xyli

Old- Clavibacter xyli

Vivek Kumar

Student [ B.Sc (H) Agriculture ]

School of Agriculture, GEHU (Dehradun)

 INTRODUCTION:

• The disease is present throughout the sugarcane growing areas of our country. CO 419 variety was worst affected in parts of Karnataka where it was withdrawn from cultivation. The disease appears in both plant and ratoon crop, but more pronounced in ratoon crop.

CLASSIFICATION:

• Domain: Bacteria
• Phylum: Actinobacteria 
• Class: Actinobacteria
• Subclass: Actinobacteridae
• Order: Actinomycetales
• Suborder: Micrococcineae
• Family: Microbacteriaceae
• Genus: Leifsonia 
• Species: Leifsonia xyli  Subsp. xyli

SYMPTOMS:

• Diseased clumps usually display stunted growth, reduced tillering, thin stalks with shortened internodes and yellowish foliage (mild chlorosis).
• When mature canes are split open, vascular bundles appear discoloured.
• In young canes, pink colour is seen in the form of minute pin head like areas near the nodes.
• The disease reduces the length, girth and the number of canes per clump.

           Stunted growth                     

Orange pin head dots on internode

        

ETIOLOGY:

• It infect the xylem (water transport) vessels of the sugarcane plant.
• The bacterium is rod shaped, typically with a slight bend and measures 0.25-0.5 μm by 1-4 μm.
• The organism that causes RSD is, Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli, a small aerobic and Gram Positive bacterium.
• The genus of the pathogen was previously called Clavibacter.

Leifsonia xyli

Microscopic view

SURVIVAL AND SPREAD :

• The two primary methods of spread of the disease are by planting infected cuttings and by use of contaminated cutting implements.
• The bacterium is highly contagious and can be spread for many metres down a row after a planter or harvester cuts a diseased stalk or plant.
• The recirculating fungicide spray system on planting machines can carry the bacteria and spread the disease.

FAVOURABLE CONDITIONS:

• Infected setts.
• Dense planting.

DISEASE CYCLE:

• The disease spreads through use of diseased setts.
• The disease also spreads through cane harvesting implements contaminated with the juice of the diseased canes.
• Maize, sorghum, Sudan grass and Cynodon are some of the collateral hosts of the pathogen.

DISEASE MANAGEMENT:

Cultural method:

• Select healthy setts for planting.
• Field should maintain at proper sanitation.
• Ungerminated setts should be removed and fill the gap with new setts which should be treated before planting.

Mechanical method:

• Treat the setts with hot water at 50°C for about 2 hours this gives 100 per cent control. A temperature higher than this would kill the cane and lower temperature than the specified enables the pathogen to survive.
•   Aerated steam therapy eliminates the pathogen from the infected canes. Use of disinfectants to clean seed cutting tools which would reduce the chance of spread of pathogen from the infected to healthy setts.

Chemical method:

• Chemical disinfectants that may be used on cane cutting knives includes, Lysol, Dettol, ethanol, Mirrol and Roccal. Atleast 5 minutes of contact with the cutting surface is needed to assure disinfection.

Thank You !!

If any suggestion than please drop a message in comment section...

GRASSY SHOOT DISEASE OF SUGARCANE

  GRASSY SHOOT DISEASE OF SUGARCANE

        Causal Organism: Candidatus sacchari

 Juhee Kumari

Student [B.Sc(H) Agriculture]

School of Agriculture, GEHU (Dehradun)

INTRODUCTION:

•  The grassy shoot disease (GSD) of sugarcane occurs in most of the Asian countries, affecting sugarcane production to a considerable level.
•  It was first noticed in India in 1919 in Maharashtra. 
•  The disease is caused by grassy shoot phytoplasmas. In India the disease occurs in all the sugarcane growing states.       

CLASSIFICATION:

•  Domain: Bacteria
•  Phylum: Firmicutes
•  Class: Mollicutes
•  Order: Acholeplasmatales
•  Family: Acholeplasmataceae
•  Genus: Candidatus
•  Species: sacchari   

     

SYMPTOMS:

•  Initial symptom appears in the young crop of 3 – 4 months age as thin papery white young leaves at the top of the cane.
•  Later, white or yellow tillers appear in large number below these leaves (profuse tillering).
•  The cane becomes stunted with reduced internodal length with axillary bud sprouting.
•  This disease appears in isolated clumps.   

Whitining of leaf

Profuse tillering

            Reduced internodal length  

             

Grassy shoot

             

ETIOLOGY:

•  Phytoplasmas, formely called Mycoplasma like organisms (MLOs).
•  Its large group of obligate, intracellular, wall less, Shape less.
•  It is Gram positive Bacteria.
•  Its found in the Phloem cells of infected plant.
•  Two types of bodies are noticed , spherical bodies of 300-400 nm diameter and filamentous bodies of 30-53 mm diameter in size.   

SURVIVAL AND SPREAD :

•  The grassy shoot disease is primarily transmitted through the diseased seed material (setts) and perpetuated through ratooning.
•  The MLO is readily transmitted by sap inoculation and in the field it is transmitted through infected setts and perpetuated through crop ratooning.
•  The aphids are the vectors for this disease
•  This disease is also transmitted by -

            -Mechanically by cutting knife.
              -Insects (aphids, black hopper).  
-Dodder (root parasite).

FAVOURABLE CONDITIONS:

•  Dense planting.
•  Ratooning.
•  Presence of Insect.
•  Cloudy days.

DISEASE CYCLE: 

•  The primary spread of the phytoplasma is through diseased setts and cutting knifes.
•  The pathogen is transmitted secondarily by aphids viz., Rhopalosiphum maydis,Melanaphis sacchari and M. idiosacchari. 
•  Sorghum and maize serves as natural collateral hosts.

DISEASE MANAGEMENT:

   Cultural method:

•  Growing resistant varieties viz., Co 86249, CoG 93076 and CoC 22
•  Avoid ratooning if Grassy Shoot Disease incidence is more than 15 % in the plant crop
•  If disease symptoms are visible within two weeks after planting, such plants can be replaced by healthy plants.
•  Uprooted infected plants need to disposed of by burning them.

   Physical method:

•  Rogue out infected plants in the secondary and commercial seed nursery.
•  Treat the setts with aerated steam at 50°C for 1 hour to control primary infection.
•  Treating them with hot air at 540C for 8 hours and spraying twice a month with aphidicides.

   Chemical method:

•  Spray dimethoate @ 1ml in 1 litre of water to control insect vector
•  Apply pesticide methyl-demeton @ 2ml/lit of water for controlling aphids.

References:

Diseases of Field Crops:V.K Gupta & Y.S Paul (2002), Plant Diseases : R.S Singh , Plantix.net , apsjournals.apsnet.org , sugarcane.icar.gov.in , www.cabi.org, researchgate.net , agropedia, springer, eagri.org , agritech.tanu.ac.in , NIPHM, NCIPM.

Thank You!!

If any suggestion or query than please comment below in comment section...

POKKAH BOENG DISEASE OF SUGARCANE

 POKKAH BOENG DISEASE OF SUGARCANE

Causal Organism: Fusarium moniliforme

Vivek Kumar

Student [ B.Sc (H) Agriculture ]

School of Agriculture, GEHU (Dehradun)

INTRODUCTION:

• Pokkah boeng , a Javanese term, which describe a disease as affecting to sugarcane tops, was first reported in Java by Walker and Went in 1886 and later reported by Edgerton (1955) and Martin et.al (1961).
• In india it was observed for the first time in Maharashtra on Co7219 and Coc671 varieties.
• The occurrence of the disease has been recorded in almost all the cane growing countries in the world.
• 3 to 7 month old crop growing vigorously is more susceptible to infection than older cane.

CLASSIFICATION:

•  Kingdom : Fungi
•  Division : Eumycota
•  Sub-division : Deuteromycotina
•  Class: Hypomycetes
•  Order: Hypocreales
•  Family: Nectriaceae
•  Genus : Fusarium 
•  Species : moniliforme

SYMPTOMS:

The general symptoms of Pokkah boeng are mainly of three types-

• Chlorotic Phase
• Acute Phase or Top-Rot Phase
• Knife-cut Phase

Chlorotic Phase-

• Chlorosis at the base of the young leaves and occasionally on the other parts of the leaf blades.
• Frequently, wrinkling, twisting and shortening of the leaves accompanied the malformation or distortion of the young leaves.
• The base of the affected leaves is seen often narrower than that of the normal leaves.

Acute Phase or Top-Rot Phase-

• The most advanced and serious stage.
• Leaf infection sometimes continued to downward and penetrates in the stalk by way of a growing point.
• In advanced stage of infection, the entire base of the spindle and even growing point showed a malformation of leaves, pronounced wrinkling, twisting and rotting of spindle leaves. 
• Red specks and stripes also developed.

Knife-cut Phase-

• The symptoms of knife-cut stage are observed in association with the acute phase of the disease characterized by one or two or even more transverse cuts in the rind of the stalk /stem in such a uniform manner as if, the tissues are removed with a sharp knife, This is an exaggerated stage of a typical ladder lesion of a Pokkah boeng disease.

ETIOLOGY:

• Mycelium - Septate, branched, light pink Conidia.
• Macro conidia - boat shaped, hyaline, long septate, pointed at tip Micro conidia - small, curved, unicellular. 
• Conidiophores - simple, slender, short, produced in sporodochium. 
• Chlamydospore - spherical, thick walled.

Mycelium and spores of Fusarium moniliforme

 (Microscopic View)

                                                             

Fusarium

                                                                                 

FAVOURABLE CONDITIONS:

•  20-30°C temperature and the average relative humidity higher than 70 to 80% with a cloudy weather, drizzling rains favors the growth of pathogen.

DISEASE CYCLE: 

• The fungus is soil-borne and remains in the soil as Conidia & Chlamydospore
• The disease is primarily transmitted through infected seed pieces.
• The secondary spread is aided by wind, rain and irrigation water.

DISEASE MANAGEMENT:

• Select the seed material from the disease free plots.
• Avoid the practice of rotooning in diseased fields.
• Burn the residue & stubbles in the fields.
• Grow coriander or mustard as a companion crops in early stages of crop.
• Dip the seats in 0.05%carbendazim for 15 minutes.
• Grow resistant varieties.
• Crop rotation.
• Managing root borer.
• Avoiding prolonged drought and water logging.
• Apply bulk manure.
• Apply Trichoderma in FYM.
• Spray Carbendazim, Propiconazole or Hexaconazole.

Thank You !!

if any suggestion than please comment below in comment section...

WILT DISEASE OF SUGARCANE

 WILT DISEASE OF SUGARCANE

Causal Organism: Fusarium sacchari

Old: Cephalosporium sacchari

Vivek Kumar & Juhee Kumari

Student B.Sc.(H) Agriculture

School of Agriculture, GEHU (Dehradun)

INTRODUCTION:

The wilt disease of sugarcane was first reported from Bihar in 1906, and now it is a common and destructive disease occurring in many parts of our country such as U.P., Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.

It was first reported by Butler and Khan in 1913, from North India.

This disease caused great damage to sugarcane crop in the Deccan Plateau and to a lesser extent in other areas during 1965-67 and, because of it the sugar industry in the country was paralysed. This disease, however, often occurs in association with the red rot disease of sugarcane and is only second to red rot in causing economic loss to the crop.

Wilt of sugarcane appeared in epidemic form in many districts in Tamil Nadu during 1955-56 and, as a result, certain sugarcane varieties like Co419, Co449, Co453, Col 122 were withdrawn from cultivation. However, the disease is also known to occur in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Argentina, Philippines, South Africa, USA, Barbados, Trinidad, Columbia, Zimbabwe, and Mexico.

CLASSIFICATION:

  Kingdom : Fungi

  Division : Eumycota

  Sub-division : Deuteromycotina

  Class: Hypomycetes

  Order: Moniliales

  Family: Moniliacease

  Genus : Fusarium 

  Species : sacchari 

SYMPTOMS:

• The first symptoms of the disease become apparent only when the plant has grown for about 4-5 months.
• Then gradual yellowing and drying of foliage, shrinkage/withering of canes.
• If the affected canes are cut and examined, the pith will be Light to dark purplish or brown discolouration of ground tissue, pithiness and boat shaped cavities in the middle of the internodes.
•  A characteristic disagreeable odour is also associated with this disease.
•  Often a cottony white mycelium is seen in the pith region.

Yellowing of leaves

      Boat shaped cavity on the internode

Reddish discolouration in cane 

Shrinkage of cane

ETIOLOGY:

•  The fungal mycelium is hyaline, septate and thin walled. 
•  The conidiophores are simple or branched and produce single celled, hyaline, oval to elliptical microconidia. 
•  Macroconidia are straight with 3-5 septa measuring 27-73 × 3.4-5.2 mm.
•  Blastoconidia are either straight, sickle shaper or pike shaped with 2-3 septae. Moreover will be found as elliptical cell shaper structure with 1.-43x3.0-4.5 mm in size.

Conidiophores

Fusarium sacchari

                                     

                      

FAVOURABLE CONDITIONS:

•  High day temperature (30-35˚C).
•  Low humidity (50-60%).
•  Low soil moisture and alkaline soils.
•  Excess doses of nitrogenous fertilizers.

DISEASE CYCLE: 

• The fungus is soil-borne and remains in the soil as saprophyte for 2-3 years.
• The disease is primarily transmitted through infected seed pieces.
• The secondary spread is aided by wind, rain and irrigation water.

DISEASE MANAGEMENT:

   Cultural method:

• Selection of healthy seed setts from disease-free area for planting
• Grow resistant varieties like Co 617 and B.P.17 are more resistant than other varieties
• Crop rotation, managing root borer, avoiding prolonged drought and water logging and hygienic practices.

  Biological method:

• Many species of Streptomyces and Bacillus are known to be the natural antagonists of the wilt pathogen. However their commercial has not been worked out.

  Chemical Method:

•  Dipping the setts in 40 ppm of boron or manganese, or spraying the plants with either of these minor elements reduces the disease intensity.
•  Sett treatment with fungicide like Bavistin, 0.1 per cent before planting.
•  Apply carbendazim @ 2gm/lit of water at the root zone area and same as follow at 15 days interval.

References:

Diseases of Field Crops:V.K Gupta & Y.S Paul (2002), Plant Diseases : R.S Singh , Plantix.net , apsjournals.apsnet.org , sugarcane.icar.gov.in , www.cabi.org, researchgate.net , agropedia, springer, agritech.tanu.ac.in , NIPHM, NCIPM

THANK YOU....

if any suggestion than please comment below in comment section 🙏

 

DISCOVER BEST PRACTICE FARMING FOR A SUSTAINABLE 2050

Human population was growing steadily until the last few hundred years. We will have about 10 billion humans on the planet by 2050. All these people have to be fed & clothed . Much of their food & clothing comes from Agriculture. It has grown as human population has grown

• Modern industrialized agriculture has been quite destructive. So we have serious challenges facing by us and also by global.

• Obviously Human population growth is primary issue. Second challenge is increasing urbanization in agriculture land , climate change.

We also had this strange phenomenon of biofuel production that in many cases based on using human food for production of fuels

Future farm project - 4 enterprises

1. Ecological cropping - Production of legumes, cereals , canola. 

2. Livestock - Based around the production of meat and wool by sheep. 

3. Maintain & restore ecosystem and biodiversity. 

4. People - We need contented farmers living in vibrant communities    

* CLEAN , GREEN , ETHICAL  clean means less reliance on drugs & hormones. Green - Ecosystem  ,Ethical - Animal welfare.

These concepts are future of all of our animal industries 

SIX MAJOR ISSUES IDENTIFIED THAT NEED TO BE CONSIDERED . 

1) Nutrition health & welfare of the animals.

2) Choice of genotypes ( we choose genotypes types that are suited to the environment & that we avoid the temptation to introduce exotic genotypes into environment is which they will not thrive). 

3) Human Nutrition ( Balanced diet ). 

4) Relevance of livestock to local culture  

5) Feeding of human food to livestock .

''We are losing our biodiversity rapidly we need to change the conservations rather than criticize farmers for this situation help them to become part of solution. 

Maintenance of biodiversity is an important part of the future farm project. 

Aim Of the future farm project is in fact for every building on the farm to contribute to independence for energy & water .

Agriculture is totally reliant on soil & water.  In order to provide sustainable functions for soil in the future.                                                               

* Increased water storage capacity , nutrient availability , carbon storage abilities. We cannot afford to lose our soils because remember soils are part of the critical zone upon which humanity ulterly depends. " Planting trees for the future farm project is main aim "

Management of water resources is critical for sustainable farming . Biggest uses of water is irrigated Agriculture . The most important indicator of water availability is soil moisture content ( we need to understand water balance ). Water balance states that the change in storage of water occurs at a rate depending on the inflows & outflows.

Ecological cropping

Technologies have been developed to enable no till cropping . It protects soil from destructive effects of cultivation & preserve soil moisture in the soil . It also increases crop productivity .No till cropping has required the usage of herbicides .                                                                         

 To maintain a no till cropping with all of it's environment advantages a major challenge is to ensure sustainability of herbicides which enable no till cropping.                                                                 

 If we have sufficient diversity in our farming system we can maintain the enormous advantages of no till cropping & still keep herbicides working working to help no till & crop productivity - Main objective.

Four main needs have been identified when considering the contribution livestock will make to global food security in the future.                  

1) We need better animal & welfare.                       

2) We need to select appropriate genotypes for environment.

3) We need to reduce the environmental footprint.                                                                      

4) we also need better livestock husbandry nutrition & management .

We need to reduce usage of more pesticides and herbicides, we need to educate people regarding  about sustainable farming and also we need to provide proper infrastructure in rural areas , we need to make people to adapt for organic & friendly farming . 

THANGELLA SAI POOJITHA ;

B.Sc.AGRICULTURE STUDENT,

  ( GEHU - DEHRADUN )     

REMOTE SENSING IN AGRICULTURE...

 ✅INTRODUCTION:-

👉The science of acquiring information about an object, without entering in contact with it, by sensing and recording reflected or emitted energy and processing, analysing, and applying that information.

👉According to India’s National Remote Sensing Agency, “Remote Sensing is the technique of acquiring information about objects on the earth’s surface without physically coming into contact with them.”

✅PRINCIPLE:-

• The energy comes down to the earth and a part is reflected and detected by a sensor;
• The detection is captured as data, which is sent to the receiving station;
• Some pre-processing takes place in the receiving station, and then the pre-processed data is handed over to the users;
• The users analyze the data for their own application.

PRINCIPLE OF REMOTE SENSING.

dig source: maps.unomoha.edu

✅ TYPES:-

👉Passive Remote Sensing.

👉Active Remote Sensing.

 👉Active remote sensors create their own electromagnetic energy that is transmitted from the sensor towards the terrain interacts with the terrain producing a backscatter of energy and it’s recorded by the remote sensor’s receiver.

👉Passive sensor detects the naturally transmitted microwave energy within its field of view.

                                                            fig source: nrcan.ga.ca/ wiki/slideshare

✅ROLE OF REMOTE SENSING IN AGRICULTURE:-

• Identification of pest and disease infestation.
• Irrigation monitoring and management
• Identification, area estimation and monitoring.
• Crop condition assessment.
• Soil mapping.
• Crop yield modeling and production forecasting.
• Crop nutrient detection.
• Agricultural drought assessment.
• Identification of planting and harvesting dates.

✅ADVANTAGES OF REMOTE SENSING:-

• Good spectral and spatial resolution.
• Allows broad regional coverage.
• Allows continuous acquisition of data.
• Provides cost effective and map accurate data.
• Provides large archive of historical data.

✅DISADVANTAGES OF REMOTE SENSING:-

• Cost of data collection and data purchase is high.
• Problems with data analysis and interpretation.
• Problems with all weather capability as all sensors cannot see through clouds.
• Potential limitations with spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions of the various sensors.

✅CONCLUSION:-

👉Remote sensing technology has developed from balloon photography to aerial photography to multi-spectral satellite imaging.

👉Some of the benefits that can be gained from the use of remote sensing-

• Early identification to crop health and stress.
• Ability to use this information to do remedial work on the problem.
• Improve crop yield.
• Crop yield predictions.
• Reduce costs.
• Reduce environmental impact.
• Crop management to maximize returns through the season. 

VIVEK KUMAR

B.Sc.agriculture.

(GEHU-DOON)

iamvivekagriculture.blogspot.com

vesaliusvivek.blogspot.com

My Visit To a Local Dairy Farm

 Vivek Kumar

            GEHU, Dehradun

Dairy  farm Visit in Bihar:

I visited a dairy farm located in Supaul district Bihar, near NH57, here  is the details of farmer's and summery of what i saw and learnt:

 Farmer’s name – Ramchandra  Yadav

 Village name - majhari

 Block name- Nirmali

 District name- Supaul

 State – Bihar

 No. of cow he has: 12

 No. of bull: 1

·      No. of heifer : 3

·      No. of calf: 4

      Mr. Ramchandra Yadav gives brief introduction about  dairy farming and he also tells in their Herd how much cattle are there and how they manage a large no of population  of cattle in  simplest way,

      for  management of all cattle he has 2 male labours and 1 female labours.

  

      firstly he gives brief idea about housing system of cattle and their advantages, he said   there are 2 types of housing:  

• 👉The loose housing barn in combination with some type of milking barn or parlor.

• 👉The conventional dairy 

      but he  kept 2nd type of housing pattern for cattles their details are as follows  

           conventional Dairy Barn

• The conventional dairy barns are comparatively costly and are now becoming less popular day by  day. However, by this system cattle are more protected from adverse climatic condition.

• The following barns are generally needed for proper housing of different classes

 

             👉 Dairy Stock in the Farm

• 👉Cow houses or sheds

• 👉Calving box

• 👉Isolation box

• 👉Sheds for young stocks

• 👉Bull or bullock sheds

            Cow Sheds:

• 👉Cow sheds can be arranged in a single row if the numbers of cows are small.

• 👉Say less than 10 or in a double row if the herd is a large one.

• 👉Ordinarily, not more than 80 to 100 cows should be placed in one building.

• 👉In double row housing, the stable should be so arranged that the cows face out (tails to tail system) or face in (head to head system) as preferred 

            Advantages of tail to tail system:

• Under the average conditions, 125 to 150 man hours of labour are required per cow per year. Study of time: Time motion studies in dairies showed that 40% of the expended time is spent in front of the cow, and 25% in other parts of the barn and the milk house, and 60% of the time is spent behind the cows. Time spent at the back of the cows is 4 times more than the time spent in front of them.

• 👉In cleaning and milking the cows, the wide middle alley is of great advantage.

• 👉Lesser danger of spread of diseases from animal to animal.

• 👉Cows can always get more fresh air from outside.

• 👉The head gowala can inspect a greater number of milkmen while milking. This is possible because milkmen will be milking on both sides of the gowala.

• 👉Any sort of minor disease or any change in the hind quarters of the animals can be detected quickly and even automatically.

          Advantages of face to face system:

• 👉Cows make a better showing for visitors when heads are together

• 👉The cows feel easier to get into their stalls.

• 👉Sun rays shine in the gutter where they are needed most.

• 👉Feeding of cows is easier, both rows can be fed without back tracking.

• 👉It is better for narrow barns.

          ✋ he said for housing requirements  each cow takes 4.5- 5 m2 area.

          

            In cold season he also gives beddings for cattle 

            For beddings he generally used rice straw, sometimes he also used rubber mat 

            If extreme cold is there than he also take some jute cloth for cattle.

                                          Where as in warm season there should be proper ventilation, exhaust fans &  ceiling fans should be there.

             Cattle breed: (@ Mr. Yadav farm’s)

1. Sahiwal :

Character-

• Highest and sweetest milk.
• Originated in Montgomery district in present Pakistan.
• This breed otherwise known as Lola (loose skin), Lambi Bar, Montgomery, Multani, Teli.
• The colour is reddish dun or pale red, sometimes flashed with white patches.  

☺The average milk yield of this breed is between 2,725 and 3,175 kgs in lactation period of 300 days

2. Jersey :

Character-

• It is the smallest of the dairy types of cattle developed on island of 
Jersey, U.K.

• In India this breed has acclimatized well and is widely used in cross breeding with indigenous cows.
• The typical colour of Jersey cattle is reddish fawn.
• Dished fore head and compact and angular body.

• These are economical producers of milk with 5.3% fat and 15% SNF.

 

3. Holstein Friesian: 

Character-

• This breed was developed in the northern parts of Netherlands, especially in the province of Friesland.
• They are ruggedly built and they possess large udder.
• They are the largest dairy breed and mature cows weigh as much as 700kg.
• They have typical marking of black and white that make them easily distinguishable.

•     ☺The average production of cow is 6000 to 7000 kgs per lactation. However, the fat content in their milk is rather low (3.45 per cent).

        

Feed management:

In Mr. Yadav dairy  farm, crop residues and by product

are the major components in livestock feed. In their farm dry fodder affords the largest proportion of fodder accounting for about 84% of the feed requirements. Straw of paddy and wheat both together contribute to about 92 % of dry fodder feeds for livestock in their  farm.

       He also used green fodder like maize, berseem, napier grass and some legume crop.

sometimes He also used leaves of some trees for feeding of livestock 

Leaves like bamboo leaves and banana leaves, mango leaves etc…

For feed He also used  oil cakes , chokar, sugar cakes, and banana  (this is given mainly those cows which is currently milching).

           

      

 Government  Schemes for Dairy Farming in Bihar :

Doodh Ganga Yogana :

This schemes gives finance for:

• Establishing small dairy units upto 10 aniimals.

• Finances for rearing heaifer calves.

• Vermi-compost 

• Purchasing the milking machines, cooling units and other dairy equipments

• Dairy processing equipments.

• Transportation facilities and cold chain , cold storage for milk and milk products.

• Establishment of veterinary clinics.

• Dairy parlors

The scheme approves loan upto 15 lakh rupees for setting of machines and cooler for the purpose of milk production and conservation.

For the transportation of dairy product, a loan of 25 lakh can be availed under the scheme.

Loan from rupees 1.2 lakh to 4.8 lakh are given for purchasing cattle and set up another animal husbandry venture.

         This information is taken from  and local news paper, and some basic information given by village Pradhan.

       General term which is important in dairy farm:-

Body temp. of cow:- 38.5`C

Respiration rate/min. :- 12- 16

Pulse rate/min:- 45-55

Onset of puberty :- 24- 30 months (females)

Length of estrous cycle:- 21 days

Length of heat period:- 18 hrs

Gastation period:- 282 days 

Common diseases of cattle:

1. Mastitis: inflammation of udder

2. FMD: viral disease 

3. Riderpest: viral, known as cattle plague

4. Anthrax : bacterial disease, it is called splenic fever

5. Cow pox: viral disease.

Few things that i observed there:

     in local dairy farm farmers do not have own dairy unit for processing of milk . In their  herds he has generally 10 to 30 cows  and he milked each cow twice a day (6:00 am & 5:00 pm) and after milked  dairy staff come there and collect whole milk  

milking is generally done by hand or somewhere also by machine. if machines were used than 4to 4.5 mins take each cow to milked where as by hand it takes 15 to 20 mins each cow

Every morning hormones or drugs are injected into the cow to increase there milk yield

Since cow produce the most milk after pregenancy, they are kept pregnant for their entire fertile life through AI

every year each cow delivers a baby. the local cowherds can not absorb all the baby calves that are born every year in their business. hence they sell the baby calves( 80 to 85% of them) to the beef industry where they raised the calves for beef and are slaughetered in three to four years or to an illegal veal industry where they are being slaughetered in 6 months .

Also after 4 to 5 deliveries, the milk yield of an adult cow drops significantly and hence the cowherd replace the old cow with a young one and sells the old cow to a slaugheter house for cheap meat. only few cows (7% or less) end up in a cow shelter place.

👉 Slaughtering the mother cows after five years of their fertile life while their life  expectancy is 15 years.

Organic Milk:

     The Organic farm is generally smaller than the huge factory-style farm. The Organic milk is produced without using antibiotics, pesticides, and hormones. There are no milk additives added into the milk. However there are no legal regulations that prevent farmers from engaging in similar abuses such as keeping the cows in tie stalls and using electric milking equipment, etc. Only few organic farms treat cows properly during her milk producing life.

 

Also to ensure steady milk production the organic farms:

  👉Keep cows pregnant all the time through artificial insemination or other means

   👉Sell baby calves to veal industry, where they are slaughtered in six months

   👉Sell the adult cows to the slaughter houses after four years when the milk production yield drops

Hence the Organic milk is not cruelty free milk.

@vesaliusvivek 

                                                           THANK YOU 🙏 

❔ What is your opinion about Slaughter houses & Organic milk.........must write in comment section