Genetic Analysis of Production Traits in Gir Cattle

Gir is one of the best dairy breed among Indian breeds of cattle. The native tract of the breed is Gir hills and forests of Saurashtra including Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Rajkot and Amreli districts of Gujarat and also in parts of Maharashtra and Rajasthan. This breed is also known as Bhodali, Desan, Gujarati, Kathiawari, Sorthi etc. in different parts of the breeding tract. Pure breeding is popular throughout Saurashtra region of Gujarat State. The professional breeders viz., Charan, Ahir, Koli, Gosavi, Rabari and Bharwad are the communities mainly involved in traditional cattle breeding.Gir cattle are amongst the hardiest of high milk yielders in the world. It has been used in the improvement of other breeds including Red Sindhi and Sahiwal. It was also one of the breeds used in the development of the Brahman breed in North America. Cattle of the Gir breed are famous for their tolerance to stress conditions and resistance to various tropical diseases. Bullocks of this breed are used to drag heavy loads on all kinds of soil. However, Kankrej bullocks are preferred over Gir bullocks by farmers, whereas Gir bullocks are preferred for docility.