Abstract

It is difficult to state when exactly cross-breeding as such was started in this Presidency. The European military, officials and settlers including missionaries have no doubt been pioneers in trying to bring breeds from Europe in order to evolve better milk breeds in this Presidency. The Livestock Section of the Agricultural Department, however, did not start the experiment with cross-breeding until early 1923 when 32 half-bred cows were acquired from the Military Dairy Farm at Bangalore. The object was to evolve a cross-bred herd which would give better yield than the indigenous breeds like the Ongole and Sind, so as to solve the growing demand for milk in the cities.

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