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Ongole cattle

Ongole is a registered native zebu (Bos indicus) breed of Andhra Pradesh, named for the Ongole taluk of present-day Prakasam district. It is one of Andhra Pradesh's four flagship indigenous breeds and is internationally significant as the principal genetic base of the Brahman cattle breed of the Americas.

Origin and distribution

The home tract lies in the coastal districts of Prakasam, Nellore and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh. The breed is kept widely across the surrounding Telugu-speaking belt and is bred selectively on a network of state-supported and private breeding farms. Ongole cattle were exported to the United States, Brazil and Australia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, where they formed the foundation of the Brahman breed and shaped tropical beef cattle worldwide.

Morphology

Animals are large, powerfully built and predominantly white. Bulls may carry grey or dark markings on the forequarters, neck and hindquarters that darken with age. The hump is well developed, the dewlap is loose and pendulous, the sheath in bulls is hanging, and horns are short and stumpy. Cows average 268 kg and 130 cm at the withers; bulls average 570 kg and 150 cm. The skin is loose and pliable, an adaptation to heat dissipation.

Performance

Ongole is a dual-purpose breed. Bullocks are renowned for draught power and stamina, and were historically the workhorse of plough cultivation and bullock-cart transport across the southern Indian plains. Cow milk yield is modest — typically 3-5 litres a day in well-fed herds — with high milk fat. Reproductive performance is solid under range conditions, with good fertility and disease resistance.

Management

Ongole cattle are reared mostly under extensive village and farm-based systems with grazing on commons and stall feeding of paddy straw, hybrid Napier and concentrate. Conservation breeding herds are maintained by Andhra Pradesh Livestock Development Agency and ICAR centres. Artificial insemination using progeny-tested Ongole bulls (Artificial Insemination Cattle) is being used both for intra-breed selection and for crossing with HF (Holstein Friesian Crossbred Cow) and Jersey (Jersey Crossbred Cow) where higher milk yield is the priority. The breed is widely used in desi-cow natural farming (Desi Cow Natural Farming) for jeevamrutham preparation.

See also: Sahiwal Cow, Punganur Cow.

References

  1. Ongole Cattle. ICAR-National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources.
  2. Cattle Genetic Resources of India — Ongole. NBAGR publication.