LUDHIANA: A meeting was held at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University with office bearers of Progressive Dairy Farmers Association with officers of varsity. Meeting was chaired by Dr Inderjeet Singh, Vice Chancellor.
The important agenda included precise breed characters of Nili-Ravi buffaloes for avoiding confusion of farmers and accurate judging of Nili Ravi buffaloes and misuse of Growth Hormone, commercially called Boostin / Lactotrophin – a synthetic growth hormone used for enhancing milk production in cows and buffaloes. Boostin is prohibited in India but often used in malpractices of increasing milk production of buffaloes to be sold.
After thorough deliberations and taking into account the discussions during previous meetings on the topic between 2016 and 2018, the characteristics of paramount importance for the Nili-Ravi breed were defined as animals having a wedge-shaped body - narrow in the front and wide at the rear, of medium height with comparatively short legs and having a large, deep and low-set body frame.
The forehead is wide, and the horns are wider and mostly curled though slightly more open than those of Murrah buffaloes. Sickle shaped horns and drooping horns are also not uncommon. Nili-Ravi buffaloes are usually black but sometimes brown in colour. It was emphasized that while variable white markings are commonly present on forehead, muzzle, tail switch and legs, these are not stable as these vary from generation to generation and therefore, these cannot be considered as hallmarks of the breed.
However, animals with walled eyes, pink tongue, white forehead and tail are the natives of Nili Ravi tract. Panchkalyani white patches are also seen in other buffalo breeds like Jaffarabadi, Nagpuri, Pandharpuri, Gojri, and Iraqi etc., though these breeds are distinguished by their body characteristics. With unscientific and unsubstantiated focus on unstable panchkalyani characters, buffaloes with undesirable overly white bodies are being produced. Farmers participating in the ongoing PDFA International Dairy & Agri Expo 2024 are encouraged to familiarize themselves with these distinctive features to ensure accurate identification and representation of the Nili-Ravi breed.
Dr Inderjeet Singh informed that on the demand of farmers’ bodies, the University has developed the test for detecting use of illegal synthetic growth hormone in animals from their blood and milk samples. Sh Daljeet Singh Sadarpura, President PDFA requested the university for getting the sampling done on animals participating in PDFA fair so as to detect misuse of the hormone. Dr Malik, Dean, College of Animal Biotechnology assured the services for this test for fair.