Sheep pastoralism in southern Karnataka
956 / 1023
Authors
- NAVEEN KUMAR G S Veterinary College, Hassan, Bengaluru, Karnataka 573 202 India
- VANI A Veterinary College, Hassan, Bengaluru, Karnataka 573 202 India
- BASAVARAJ INAMDAR Veterinary College, Hassan, Bengaluru, Karnataka 573 202 India
Keywords:
Karnataka, Kuruba, Migratory paths, Pastoralism, Sira sheepAbstract
Present study was conducted to understand and document the migratory system followed, socio-economic status, management and healthcare practices adopted by pastoralists of southern Karnataka. In-person interview method with a structured questionnaire was used for collecting data from 25 shepherd groups on migration. Migration starts during December and continues for 6â€"8 months covering around 200 km. The breed is locally called Tumkur or Sira sheep which is not yet recognized as a separate breed. Migratory flock usually contains 1,000 to 1,200 sheep, 50 goats, 10 donkeys and 2â€"4 dogs. The average adult male to female ratio is 1 : 22. Sale of lambs and penning rental are the main sources of income. Sheep pastoralism is an established and effective way of utilizing the excess green cover in transient regions by the sheep from pasture deficient dry zones. Maintaining the social and community pasture and forest lands at their home place will be a benefit during the lean and non-migratory periods. Assessing the migratory paths, fodder and water resource and penning demand by the farmers on migratory tract will help policy makers to provide suitable interventions to curtail the problems of pastoralists. The traditional knowledge of shepherds should be documentedand validated for larger use. The pastoralists need to be educated and trained about the use of digital finance management, herd diversification, health management and government schemes to increase their profitability and standard of living.Downloads
References
Acharya R M. 1982. Sheep and goat breeds of India. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Bhasin V. 1988. Himalayan Ecology, Transhumance and Social Organisation.K R Enterprises, Delhi.
Bhasin V. 1989. Ecology, Culture and Change: Tribals of Sikkim Himalayas. Inter-India Publications.
Bhasin V. 1996. Transhumants of Himalayas: Changspas of Ladakh, Gaddis of Himachal Pradesh, and Bhutias of Sikkim. Kamla Raj Enterprises.
Bhasin V. 2013. Pastoralists of Himalayas. Journal of Biodiversity 4(2): 83–113. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09766901.2013.11884746
Blench R M. 2000. Extensive Pastoral Livestock Systems: Issues and Options for the Future. London: Overseas Development Institute.
Breed Survey. 2013. Estimated livestock population breed wise, based on breed survey 2013. Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi.
Government of India. 2019. 20th Livestock Census. Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, New Delhi.
Horowitz M M and Jowkar F. 1992. Pastoral women and change in Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
Jain A, Kulkarni V S, Govindaiah M G, Sadana D K, Aswathnarayan T, Pandey A K, Kumar D, Sharma R and Singh G. 2005. Sheep Genetic Resources of India: Bellary. National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources, Karnal, India. pp. 1–17.
Kuruba N, Athani B and Gopikrishna. 2020. The Significance of Nomadic Pastoralism for Sustaining Soil Fertility in Northern Karnataka, India.
Salzman P. 1971. Movement and resource extraction among pastoral nomads: The case of the Shah Nawazi Baluch. Anthropological Quarterly 185–97. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3316938
Sharma V P, Rollefson I K and Morton J. 2003. Pastoralism in India: A scoping study. Indian Institute of Management and League of Pastoral Peoples, Ahmedabad, India.
Downloads
Submitted
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 The Indian Journal of Animal Sciences
Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The copyright of the articles published in The Indian Journal of Animal Sciences is vested with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, which reserves the right to enter into any agreement with any organization in India or abroad, for reprography, photocopying, storage and dissemination of information. The Council has no objection to using the material, provided the information is not being utilized for commercial purposes and wherever the information is being used, proper credit is given to ICAR.