Spatial variation in livelihood security among livestock-based agricultural farming systems in climatically vulnerable Indian Sundarbans.

Farm households in the UNESCO World Heritage site Sundarbans face serious problems, including increased soil salinity, frequent extreme weather events, seawater intrusion and flood damage, all of which cause distress to the livelihoods of the farm families. Policymakers commonly acknowledge livestock as a crucial resource for mitigating economic losses caused by crop failures due to extreme weather events. Despite Sundarbans' vulnerability to extreme weather events, smallholder farmers' livelihoods vary across the region. Identifying spatial livelihood variations aids in targeted strategies to address climate extremes. We chose the highest cow- and buffalo-populated blocks among the 19 blocks in the Sundarbans to assess variations in livelihood dimensions, including nutritional, economic, social and infrastructural security. We used dummy variable regression models to examine the differences in livelihood security dimensions among households living in different locations. The study found that Namkhana had the highest livelihood security score among the blocks studied, while Gosaba had the lowest score because it's in a remote area with limited infrastructure. The study found a significant difference in the overall livelihood security score among the blocks we examined, indicating the need for a location-specific, cluster-based approach for the overall development of the Sundarbans. The study can shape a policy framework for socio-economic development in the Indian Sundarbans through its findings on location-specific livelihood security. For securing smallholder farmers' livelihoods in the vulnerable Sundarbans region, policymakers must give priority to improving infrastructure, viz., roads, marketing facilities and animal healthcare centers.

A review on water intake in dairy cattle: associated factors, management practices, and corresponding effects.

In this changing climate scenario, the availability of potable water has become scarce for both humans and animals in many parts of the world. Continuous supply of water is crucial for animals' life as well as different body and sanitary maintenance needs. Water availability has a direct and indirect role in clenching thirst, feeding, cleaning of animals and their environment, and other dairy operations. Water intake by dairy animals is affected by several factors including body weight of animals, genetic makeup, dry matter intake, mineral content of feed offered, milk productivity, environmental conditions, and water temperature. Behavioral patterns of dairy animals are adversely affected by restriction of water supply to them. Researchers have recommended that ad libitum water supply should be assured to the farm animals to avoid any negative effect on their health and performances. In the recent years, there is growing interest in quantifying the effects of restricted water supply to dairy animals. Many studies have demonstrated that the availability of potable water for animals will be a great challenge soon. Therefore, the present review paper has been formulated to gain better understanding of the factors affecting water intake in dairy animals and management strategies to ensure availability of water resources essential for their health, production, and well-being.

Readily usable strategies to control mastitis for production augmentation in dairy cattle: A review.

Mastitis in dairy cattle is the most common management disorder that causes higher economic losses by lowering production and quality of milk leads to substantial economical loss. The aim of this article was to review worldwide important advances in strategies to control mastitis for production augmentation in dairy cattle. Many scientists worked to identify effective strategies to control mastitis caused by Streptococcus agalactiae, Staphylococcus aureus, and others. It is necessary to identify mechanisms of infection, define clinical and subclinical states of disease, determine exposure time, and identify pathogen-specific characteristics. Evolvement of management strategies that incorporated hygienic procedures (animal, floor, and milkman), post milking standing period of animal and strategic use of antibiotic or herbal therapy at dry-off, nutritional supplementation, fly control, body condition score optimization, etc., resulted in widespread control of mastitis. The udder, teat of animal, scientific management of milking, automatic milking procedure, genetic selection are considered as important factors to control mastitis. As farm management changed, scientists were directed to redefine control of mastitis caused by opportunistic pathogens of environmental sources and have sought to explore management strategies which will maintain animal well-being in a judicial way. Although significant advances in mastitis management have been made changing herd structure, changing climatic scenario and more rigorous milk processing standards ensure that mastitis will remain important issue for future research.

Influence of pre and postpartum alpha-tocopherol supplementation on milk yield, milk quality, and udder health of Jersey crossbred cows at tropical lower Gangetic region.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Alpha-tocopherol supplementation influences milk yield, milk quality, and udder health of dairy cows, which needs to be investigated for Jersey crossbred cows at hot-humid climate. Therefore, the present study was framed with an objective to study the effect of pre and postpartum Alpha-tocopherol supplementation on milk yield, milk quality, and udder health status of Jersey crossbred cows at tropical climate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For this study, 19 similar parity, body condition score, and production level dairy animals were separated randomly into three groups, namely, Control, T1 and T2. Control group (no supplementation) was compared with two treatment groups, namely, T1 and T2. Supplementation of Alpha-tocopherol was done in concentrate fed to the animals (at 1 g/cow/day) 30 days prepartum to 30 days postpartum in T1 and 30 days prepartum to 60 days postpartum in T2 groups. Observations were taken for different parameters up to 5 months of lactation. RESULTS: Statistically analyzed data revealed that overall significantly (p<0.01) more milk production was found in T2, followed by T1 than the control group. Overall significantly (p<0.01) lower somatic cell counts and modified California mastitis tests were recorded in T2, followed by T1 than the control group. Overall significantly (p<0.01), better milk quality in terms of methylene blue reduction test was found in T2, followed by T1 than control groups. Differences in the milk composition of all three groups were non-significant (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Supplementation of Alpha-tocopherol during prepartum to initial lactation period may enhance milk yield, milk quality, and udder health status of Jersey crossbred cows at the tropical lower Gangetic region.

Effect of reducing energy intake during the dry period on milk production, udder health, and body condition score of Jersey crossbred cows in the tropical lower Gangetic region.

To find out the effect of reducing energy intake during dry period on milk production, udder health, and body condition, the experiment was conducted on 14 Jersey crossbred cows during whole dry period and continued up to 120 days of lactation. Reduction in energy intake was done during far-off period for each dry cow of treatment group as compared to control group. Statistically analyzed data revealed that overall significantly (P < 0.01) lower DMI and WI were recorded in control than treatment group. Overall significantly (P < 0.01) higher total milk production was found in treatment than control group. Overall significantly (P < 0.01) lower milk SCC, MCMT, pH, and EC were found in treatment than control group. Nonsignificant difference in milk fat, SNF, total solid, total protein, and fat:protein ratio was found. Overall significantly (P < 0.01) better quality milk (MBRT) was found in treatment than control groups. BCS during dry period and at calving was significantly (P < 0.01) different between groups. Significantly (P < 0.01) higher plasma NEFA concentration was estimated in control than treatment groups in all stages. No significant difference was found for plasma concentrations of glucose, urea, and total protein. The coefficients of correlation indicated significant (P < 0.01) correlation among BCS, milk production, milk SCC, MCMT, pH, and EC. It can be concluded that reducing energy intake during far-off dry period can lead to achieve optimum BCS at calving. Suitable BCS at calving was beneficial to get higher milk production with improved quality, better maintenance of udder health and body condition of Jersey crossbred cows at tropical lower Gangetic region.

Impact of extension interventions in improving livelihood of dairy farmers of Nadia district of West Bengal, India.

Livestock is a one of the major sources of livelihood for most of the small and marginal farmers in India, particularly for rural households who live in below poverty line. Extension interventions have long been seen as a key element for enabling farmers to obtain information and technologies that can improve their livelihoods. It is also recognized that extension is an important factor in promoting dairy development. Ex-post-facto cause to effect research design was applied in this study to trace out the impact of extension interventions in improving knowledge, attitude, adoption towards scientific dairy farming practices and improvement in milk production of dairy animal and income from dairying which will be resulted into improved livelihood of rural poor in Nadia district of West Bengal, India. Therefore, 60 dairy farmers of experimental villages who were considered as beneficiaries and 60 dairy farmers of control villages who were considered as non-beneficiaries were selected as sample for the study. It was found that beneficiaries had significantly higher score in all the five components of livelihood improvement with its all sub components, i.e., knowledge, attitude, adoption of scientific dairy farming practices, milk production per household per day and monthly income from dairying except disease control, and marketing component of adoption. Hence, it may be concluded that extension interventions had a significant impact on improving livelihood of rural dairy farmers in Nadia district of West Bengal, India.

Relationship of udder and teat conformation with intra-mammary infection in crossbred cows under hot-humid climate.

AIM: The present study was aimed to investigate the relationship of udder shape, teat-end shape, teat length, and teat diameter with intra-mammary infection in Jersey crossbred cows under hot-humid climate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 24 lactating Jersey crossbred cows were evaluated for udder shape (pendulous/regular) and teat-end shape (flat/inverted/pointed) by visual examination, while teat length and teat diameter were measured using vernier caliper. Monthly milk sampling was done for 4 months of duration. Few quarters were found as blind or non-functional and so, a total of 366 quarter wise milk samples were collected at the monthly interval and subjected to somatic cell count (SCC) microscopically. The data on SCC were transformed into log scale and analyzed. RESULTS: There was a significant (p<0.01) effect of udder shape and teat-end shape on SCC level. The mean SCC level for pendulous udder was significantly (p<0.05) higher as compared to the regular shaped udder. Similarly, significantly (p<0.05) a higher level of mean SCC was found in flat teat-end shape. A significant (p<0.01) correlation was found between SCC and teat length as well as teat diameter. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, pendulous udder, flat and inverted teat-end, very long and thick teat were more susceptible to intra-mammary infection in Jersey crossbred cows and these traits must be considered accordingly while selecting dairy animals for future milk production.