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Kasaragod Dwarf cow Photo: Nandhu Kumar · Pexels License · source ↗

Kasaragod Dwarf cattle (Kerala dwarf breed)

Kasaragod Dwarf is the second small native cattle breed of Kerala after Vechur, and a recently recognised entry on the ICAR National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR) register. It is a heritage dwarf zebu of the coastal Kasaragod district and adjoining hill tracts. Long valued by smallholders for its low maintenance, A2-type milk and disease tolerance, the breed is now a focus of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission's indigenous-breed conservation drive in southern India.

Origin and distribution

The home tract is Kasaragod district and adjacent Kannur district of Kerala, extending into the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka. Conservation breeding is being undertaken by the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) Centre for Advanced Studies in Animal Genetics and Breeding, Mannuthy. Smallholder herds graze the homestead and forest edges of the lateritic coastal belt.

Appearance

Kasaragod Dwarf animals are small and compact, with adult cows standing 90–105 cm tall and weighing 130–170 kg; bulls reach 110–125 cm and 180–230 kg. The coat is variable — black, fawn, red, white or piebald — with black and fawn most common. The forehead is small and slightly bulging; horns are short, thin and curve outward and upward; ears are small and slightly drooping. The hump in bulls is small and the dewlap is light. Legs are short and the body is tucked-up but well muscled for the size.

Productivity

Daily milk yield averages 1.0–2.5 litres with elite cows producing 3.0–3.5 litres, totalling 250–500 kg per lactation of 230–260 days. Fat is exceptionally high at 5.5–6.5% and the breed gives true A2 milk — supporting strong fat-and-SNF premiums (Milk Fat Snf Pricing) and a growing direct-to-consumer market for desi-cow A2 milk in coastal Karnataka and Kerala (Desi Cow Natural Farming). Maintenance requirement is very low: a 150 kg cow eats about half what a 300 kg cow eats, making the breed feed-efficient on smallholdings.

Management

Kasaragod Dwarf cows do well on cut-and-carry tropical fodder — guinea grass, jack and tree leaves, banana stem and coconut cake — supplemented with 0.5–1.0 kg of balanced concentrate per day. A simple thatched lean-to shed with a raised non-slip floor and separate calf pen suffices in the humid coastal climate. The breed shows strong tolerance to ticks, mastitis (Mastitis Dairy) and foot-and-mouth disease (Fmd Cattle) and rarely suffers heat stress. Breeding is mostly by natural service within conservation herds; pedigreed Kasaragod Dwarf bull semen is being prepared by KVASU.

See also: Vechur cattle, Punganur cow, Gir cattle, Desi cow natural farming, Bargur cattle.

Sources

  1. Kasaragod Dwarf — NBAGR breed profile. ICAR-National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources, Karnal.
  2. Kasaragod Dwarf — Dairy Knowledge Portal. National Dairy Development Board.