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bred According to Punjab Livestock Census 2000, about
0.35 million heads of Sahiwal cattle are available in
the province, mainly concentrated districts are Jhang
Muzaffargarh, Okara, Faisalabad , Sahiwal, Khanewal
and Toba Tek Singh. The purebred population is
decreasing over the years due to change in agriculture
system and crossbreeding. If this decline continues,
the breed will reach to such a low number that its
genetic basis will be too narrow for any significant
improvement. In the past, genetic trend remained
static because of high rate of inbreeding in govt.
herds/farm. This inbreeding can be avoided by
broadening the base of recorded population.
Due to its utmost importance and unique
characteristics, it needs conservation as a pure
breed.
Best way to conserve this breed is to be keep it
commercially fit under existing circumstances. Traits
of commercial value such as milk yield needs genetic
improvement. Increase in the milk & meat production by
improving its production potential will not only
enhance the socio-economic conditions of our farming
community but it will also go a long way in bridging
the gap of supply and demand of animal protein in the
country. Getting of proprietary rights of the valuable
animals will also be required under coming WTO
scenario. For Sahiwal cattle breeding, initially an
area of 4190 acres was leased out to Sardar
Jahangirabad Khan during 1915.
Then Allah Dad and Datar Singh cattle farms were
established during 1917 and 1920 in district Khanewal
and Sahiwal, respectively. Sahiwal cattle improvement
scheme was launched in 1938 which later on started at
Bahadurnagar, district Okara in 1962 then Sahiwal
cattle were shifted to Fazilpur, district Rajanpur
during 1973.Livestock Experiment Station was
established in 1980 at Khizarabad district Sargodha
and progeny testing programme started at Livestock
Production Research Institute, Bahadurnagar, Okara in
1984.
An international study on Sahiwal cattle was conducted
in 1998.Research Centre for Conservation of Sahiwal
Cattle (RCCSC) was established at Jahangirabad (Khanewal)
during 2003-04. The Head Quarter of RCCSC then shifted
to Jhang in 2005 which is centrally located district
of the Punjab with the objective to conserve the
Sahiwal breed through genetic improvement and
management. Livestock Experiment Station, Jahangirabad
district Khanewal remained under the administrative
control of this centre as a research station. After
achieving the targets, development phase was converted
to non development budget during 2008-09.
RCCSC development Phase-II has also been started for
the duration of three years (2008-09) by including 15 more
districts in the Punjab with the registration target of
5,000 cows.
1) Maintenance of nucleus herd of superior germ plasm
of Sahiwal cattle
2) Registration and documentation of institutional and
private Sahiwal
cattle herds
3) Performance recording for genetic evaluation and
herd management
4) Identification of superior germ plasm
5) Publishing and dissemination of sire/cow summaries
6) Conducting research on conservation and genetics
7) Collaboration with national and international
institutions involved in
breed development programmes |
