A crossbred cow at the dairy farm of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences has set a national record by producing 10,493 litres of milk in a standard lactation period of 305 days. The cow numbered FC-1133 is still in lactation,its third,and is expected to produce more than 12,000 litres of milk before the end of this lactation. This is the best milk production by a crossbred cow at any of the government institutional dairy farms in the country and is comparable to the milk yield of cows in dairy-developed countries like USA,Israel and Denmark, said Dr M L Mehra,principal investigator of the government-funded Cattle Cross Breeding project at the institute. Born in August 2003 at the University Dairy Farm,the cow has genes of a Holstein Friesian bull from Denmark,said Dr Mehra,while adding that the cow has 87.5 per cent Holstein Friesian,6.25 per cent Red Dane and 6.25 per cent Sahiwal inheritance. A herd of outstanding cows with an average lactation yield of 5,877 litres has been established at the university dairy farm,said Dr Mehra,while acknowledging the efforts of GADVASU vice-chancellor Dr V K Taneja. Dr Taneja,meanwhile,added: At our Kalcharan research station in Bathinda district,we are breeding high-value Sahiwal animals that will help us increase milk production in the state.
