Livestock Production and Management

A livestock farm is always considered as an economic unit, where the inputs are transformed into outputs through an interaction between natural and man-made factors. To obtain maximum production from the mithun animal, the livestock production and management section is managing the available resources of the farm judiciously to generate more output besides, managing the daily or routine activities of the farm such as health care, feeding and watering of different categories of animals, fodder cultivation, cleaning in and around the animal sheds etc. The section also maintains different data of the farm to generate first-hand information of mithun animals: growth and reproductive performance of different age groups of Mithun. To encourage the mithun herdsmen and to use them as draught or pack animals, the section also trained the animal for pulling the cart, ploughing the field etc.

Significant achievements of Livestock  Production & Management

·  Biochemical properties of mithun rumen fluid have been studied

·  Total and differential counts of mithun rumen ciliates have been established and fourteen different species of rumen ciliates have been identified

·  Diurnal variations of different milk constituents and milk yield in mithun have been established

·  Changes in milk production and different milk constituents during the different lactation stages have been established

·  Lactation curves for milk yield and different milk constituents have been established

·  Levels of different macro and micro-elements in mithun plasma and locally available fodders have been estimated

·  Absorption efficiency of colostral immunoglobulin in neonatal mithun calves has been investigated

·  Effect of time and method of first colostrum feeding on serum immunoglobulin profiles in mithun calves has been established

·  Profiles of different immunoglobulins in serum during the first three months of age in mithun calves have been established

·  A sensitive radioimmunoassay for estimating FSH in mithun plasma has been developed and validated

·  Endocrine control of natural oestrous cycle in mithun has been established

·  The hypothesis related to the endocrine control of follicular wave development and ovulation has been developed in mithun

·  The profiles of estradiol-17β, progesterone, LH, FSH and PGFM during the natural oestrous cycle in Mithun have been established

·  Endocrine control of behavioural estrus in mithun has been established

·  Secretion pattern of estradiol-17β, progesterone, LH, FSH and PGFM around the time of estrus during the natural oestrous cycle in mithun has been established

·  The role of LH and PGF2α on the development and regression of corpus luteum during the mithun oestrous cycle has been established

·  Secretion patterns of estradiol-17β, LH and FSH during estrus and mid-luteal phase of natural estrous cycle in mithun have been established

·  Methods for preserving mithun semen at 4°C and ultra-low temperature (-196°C in liquid nitrogen) have been developed

·  The technique of artificial insemination (AI) using cryopreserved semen has been standardized in mithun and the birth of the first AI mithun calves could be achieved

·  Preliminary investigation on Mithun's draft capability has been conducted

·  Thirteen important bacteria have been identified in mithun rumen fluid through PCR amplification of 16S rDNA and genetic diversity of some of these bacteria has been established

·  SDS pattern of whey protein fractions in mithun milk has been established