Produce milk from barren cows
H.K. Verma and K.B. Singh
STERILITY and infertility in cattle account for major economic losses to dairy farmers in India. In almost all other countries, such animals find their way to the slaughterhouse, leaving room for new animals in the herd.

‘Trials’ on computers instead of farm
Ravi Kiran
FOR feeding the rapidly increasing population, we require the optimum use of various inputs like water and fertiliser. The emphasis, thus, is on sustainable agriculture. It is required that more and more food should be produced with the least disturbance to the ecological system.

ECO WATCH
Foul water: nitrates the culprit
APPLICATION of manure and fertiliser to boost crop production not only modifies soil fertility and productivity indices, but also affects the soil water strata. The effect on soil water strata further influences drinking water facilities. This effect is more where ground water is shallow and the soil texture is sandy with low nutrient-holding capacity.

Gene tweaking
Rice that may be gold for the poor
Radhakrishna Rao
DESPITE an appreciable increase in the foodgrains output, the scourge of malnutrition continues to afflict developing countries with serious consequences for their developmental dynamics. About a third of the children under five in many such countries, including India, suffer from disorders associated with severe malnutrition.

DNA bar-code for genetically modified products
GENETICALLY modified (GM) foods and organisms could soon contain DNA bar-codes to make it easier for regulators to spot contaminated crops or foods. The National Institute of Agricultural Botany, a charitable company in Cambridge, England, has applied for a patent on the technology.

Letter
Contract farming
THIS refers to news items about the multi-crop, multi-year contract farming being taken up by Punjab on about three lakh acres (does it mean 1.5 of kharif, plus 1.5 of rabi or 3 of kharif and 3 of rabi?) in Punjab.

Produce milk from barren cows
H.K. Verma and K.B. Singh

STERILITY and infertility in cattle account for major economic losses to dairy farmers in India. In almost all other countries, such animals find their way to the slaughterhouse, leaving room for new animals in the herd. However, the slaughtering of such unproductive cows in India is prohibited. At the same time, maintaining such animals is an economic burden on farmers. In case such cattle are turned out, it leads to the problem of stray cattle, which is already a menace. A high percentage of heavy milk-yielding cows suffer from or are prone to reproductive problems resulting in infertility.

It is thus imperative to find acceptable yet productive ways of using them.

Studies have lead to development of methods to artificially induce lactation in otherwise infertile cows but having a viable healthy udder. Keeping in view the losses incurred due to sterility and infertility, artificial induction of lactation using hormones is an option worth adopting. The artificial induction of lactation at present is quite successful in cows, although the results in buffaloes are debatable.

Suitability of animals

This could be undertaken in cows with problems like chronic repeat breeder, anoestrus, infantile genitalia or having congenital abnormalities like free martin, underdeveloped ovaries or genitalia. Animals that have calved earlier give better results and have good milk production potential.

Artificial induction of lactation, however, should be undertaken as a last resort and not as a substitute or supplement to pregnancy. All other recommended procedures and measures must be exhausted before instituting this therapy for induction of milk. The main aim of artificial induction of lactation is to improve utilisation of unproductive cows through cost-effective milk production in the absence of normal and physiological breeding. An additional advantage is that some of the animals might regain fertility during the course of lactation.

Infertile/sterile cows that have attained the age of sexual maturity, good general body condition and a well-developed healthy udder qualify for artificial induction of lactation. The udder and all the teats should be healthy without any abnormality, either congenital or acquired. The treatment involves the use of sex hormones in a prescribed proportion and a systematic schedule, which should be strictly adhered to. Treatment should be started preferably seven to 10 days after the animal is detected in heat. While the hormones are being injected for about 15 days, the udder should be massaged simultaneously twice daily until secretions from teats start. The milk secretions normally start within 5-15 days.

Hormones are excreted in milky secretions after the start of treatment and the milk produced during this period is unfit for human consumption for the first 3-4 weeks. The milk can be consumed only after about 30 days from the first injection of the hormone and this regime should be strictly complied with. Such animals may continue to give milk for a complete lactation period (300 days).

After the completion of one lactation period there should be a gap/rest for 50 days as dry period during which no milk is to be taken from the animal as is done normally. The next artificial induction of lactation can be done after this period. The quantity of milk produced by the animal is approximately 60-70 per cent of normal milk yield that the animal had yielded earlier after parturition. The decision of artificial induction of lactation, thus, should be made after weighing the costs involved and the benefits expected.

Special housing care is needed for the animal undergoing artificial induction of lactation, as the treated animal will exhibit increased estrus/heat behaviour due to hormones and precautions should be taken to avoid possible injury to the treated animal as well as to her herd mates. In some cases there can be decreased feed intake, constipation and ataxia, which subsides by itself and there is no need to treat the animal.

Precautions

—This therapy should be instituted strictly under the guidance of a registered veterinary practitioner.

—Correct selection of the animal is very important, as all animals are not fit for artificial lactogenesis.

—Proper feeding and de-worming needs to be taken care of.

—Adequate housing and management is mandatory for the treated animals.

—Milk is fit for human consumption only after discarding it for the first 30 days.

‘Trials’ on computers instead of farm
Ravi Kiran

FOR feeding the rapidly increasing population, we require the optimum use of various inputs like water and fertiliser. The emphasis, thus, is on sustainable agriculture. It is required that more and more food should be produced with the least disturbance to the ecological system. To achieve this, crop growth simulation models are very helpful.

The crop growth process is very complex. Various biochemical processes are involved in photosynthesis. With the help of various mathematical equations one can try to understand the complex process and the relation of various input parameters with output parameters of the crop, like grain yield or biological yield.

Dynamic crop-growth simulation models were born about 30 years ago. Crop-growth simulation models are generally a set of various mathematical equations involving the input for a crop and the output in terms of daily dry matter production, leaf area index, yield, etc. A dynamic simulation model predicts the change in crop with time. With high-speed computers we can execute numerous equations and predict the daily output of a crop.

Simulation models are generally divided into different subroutines, each dealing with a separate process in crop growth. The models do not eliminate field tests but they are helpful in reducing the overall cost of such tests. A proven crop growth simulation model may help in evaluating various treatments and indicate which set of treatments could be expected to give the desired results.

Scientists have developed various models for different crops. These models have been used to predict water requirement, breeding feasibility, soil erosion impact, insect damage and herbicide injury. They are also used to test physiological theories. For making the use of models practical, expert systems are very helpful. Expert systems are a class of computer programs that utilise the problem-solving approach and the knowledge of experts to solve a problem or to arrive at a conclusion. This capability helps an average worker to solve agricultural problems that often seem to be ill defined or unstructured. By combining crop growth simulation models with an expert system, on-farm decisions can be taken in several combinations to give the user an optimal plan for fertiliser and irrigation scheduling for any crop.

There is need for research, observation and experience to be brought together for the development of an efficient expert system. Building models can draw attention to gaps in understanding and simulate new experimental or theoretical work. Models can also provide a framework for interception in output from a field experiment and they can be used to explore ways to improve management or minimising risks. Simple crop growth models are easy to comprehend, often require less input, and often are easier to use and apply in a real field.

ECO WATCH
Foul water: nitrates the culprit

APPLICATION of manure and fertiliser to boost crop production not only modifies soil fertility and productivity indices, but also affects the soil water strata.

Sanjeev Sandal, B.B.Kanwar and Ashok Thakur

Gene tweaking
Rice that may be gold for the poor
Radhakrishna Rao

DESPITE an appreciable increase in the foodgrains output, the scourge of malnutrition continues to afflict developing countries with serious consequences for their developmental dynamics. About a third of the children under five in many such countries, including India, suffer from disorders associated with severe malnutrition.

Apparently, the problem of malnutrition in rice-eating countries of Asia is both acute and widespread. For nutritional experts point out that as staple food rice cannot meet the nutritional requirements of an individual fully.

Against this backdrop, the efforts being made to develop several lines of rice enriched with micro-nutrients could go a long way towards minimising the incidence of malnturition in the rice-eating populations.

According to Dr Peter Beyer, who along with Prof Ingo Potrykes of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology developed the famous fortified “golden rice” enhancing the iron content and Provitamin A in rice varieties could be a major contribution to the nutritional security of the rice-eating population.

Dr Beyer, a Professor at the University of Frieburg, Germany, developed the golden rice by introducing a gene from daffodil to enable the rice plant to generate the process of forming vitamin A in the endosperm, the edible portion of the rice grain. The demonstration of the golden rice technology has led the researchers to embark on programmes to enrich maize and cassava, which are consumed by a large segment of the African population.

The genetic material of the golden rice has been made available to India so that local varities of golden rice could be developed through the conventional breeding process. According to Dr Beyer, political will, funding pattern and research support individual countries provide to the endeavour of developing local varieties of golden rice will determine the course of the development of nutritionally fortified rice strains. Though golden rice could not be expected to be a panacea for vitamin deficiency, it could be developed as a cost-effective and sustained delivery system for micro nutrients and supplement conventional intervention to tackle micronutrient shortage.

Prof C. Kameswara Rao, a former head of the Botany Department at Bangalore University, is of view that golden rice appears to be a cost-effective and viable source of beta- carotene, the precursor of vitamin A. Though there are a number of food sources that are rich in beta carotene, they are expensive.

According to Dr Beyer, golden rice is more than rice, it is a technology to enrich any food- grain or oil seed with micronutrients like vitamin A and iron. He also dismisses the allegation that the technology is a bait to promote genetically modified crops in the Third World countries. He says the technology is being made available free to public-funded institutions keen on developing nutritionally fortified rice varieties with the rider that it will not be a profit-making venture.

DNA bar-code for genetically modified products

GENETICALLY modified (GM) foods and organisms could soon contain DNA bar-codes to make it easier for regulators to spot contaminated crops or foods.

“Any development which would help in the process of detecting and identifying GMOs would be welcome,” he added. Reuters

Letter
Contract farming

THIS refers to news items about the multi-crop, multi-year contract farming being taken up by Punjab on about three lakh acres (does it mean 1.5 of kharif, plus 1.5 of rabi or 3 of kharif and 3 of rabi?) in Punjab.

M. S. Bajwa, Ludhiana