ANIMAL HUSBANDRY IN CHINA AND INDIA 1
RALPH W. PHILLIPS
United States Department of Agriculture
THERE are several reasons why our thoughts turn to livestock affairs in ther parts of the world. First, there is the inquiring mind of the scientists, always seeking well-rounded knowledge of a subject. Even now, our
knowledge of animal types and husbandry in some parts of the world is very limited. Second, there is our desire to take advantage of any superior types that might be useful to us, particularly in some of our less favorable environments.
The use of zebu cattle in our subtropical regions is an example of this, and the possibilities along this line are far from exhausted. Finally, there is our interest in that multitude of problems that must be solved if the people
of the world are to have an adequate diet and ample clothing. There is no need of recounting the importance of livestock in providing meat, milk, skins and fibers for those purposes. Some well-meaning persons have told us, in recent years, that the people of the world, and particularly, of the United States, are to become more dependent on cereals and will necessarily consume less meat. So long as populations continue to grow, food must be had for them. So it is possible that a larger portion of the world's supply of grain may have to be used for human consumption and less for livestock. But it must be remembered that only a relatively small portion of the earth's surface is cultivated. Of the remainder, some is entirely unfit for food production
and a little can yet be brought under the plow, but the major portion that is useful in food production is land from which only livestock can harvest a crop. Our own extensive grasslands are utilized rather fully, but similar vast areas in the world are making little contribution to the world's food supply, other than by the maintenance of small nomadic and semi-nomadic populations.
When our thoughts turn to China and India, no doubt many of us think of rice-eating millions and wonder about the importance of livestock in these countries. Using figures for about i94o , and making due allowance for the inadequacy of some of the statistics, we can obtain a rough approximation of livestock numbers, expressed as the numbers per ioo such animals in the United States. China, on this basis, has 6o horses and ~o5 mules. We have so few jackstock that they ar~not listed in our statistics, but China has over 9.5 million
donkeys and jackstock. These, combined with the horses and mules, bring 1 Presented as part of a symposium on "A World.Wide View of Animal Husbandry" at the opening session of the annual meeting of the American Society of Animal Production in Chicago, on November a9, 1946. China's estimated total equines to I4O, in comparison to ~oo here. For cattle, the figure is 35. Add to this approximately i i. 5 million water buffaloes, and the bovine population is 5o compared with Ioo in the United States. Also, there are large yak and yak-cattle hybrid populations on the Tibetan plateau and the southern edge of the Mongolian plateau for which no figures are available. China has 35 sheep, 5o5 goats, and I~5 swine per ioo here. China also has many camels. There are about Ioo,ooo in Ningsia and the Manchurian provinces, but no figures are available for other provinces where camels are used. Outer Mongolia has not been included in any of the above comparisons. The land area of China, exclusive of Outer Mongolia, is about ~5 percent of that of the United States. India has only about 53 percent of our land area. Her equine population includes ~5 horses and ~ mules per ioo here, and somewhat over two million donkeys, bringing the proportion of equines to 3o. In cattle, India exceeds us with ~5. There are also 45 million water buffaloes, so that the total bovine pol~ulation is over 2oo million, or about ~9o animals per ~oo in the United States. Proportions for sheep are 9o, and for goats I4oo. Swine are of little importance, the proportion being less than 4 per ~oo here. There are also about i. i million dromedaries or one-humped, camels and there are some yaks and yak-cattle hybrids in the Himalayan foothills. These figures indicate the obvious importance of livestock in the agricultural economies of both China and India. How do these animals fit into the scheme of things on the farms and in the grasslands?
The place of livestock in any country is related intimately to the mode of living of the people. Mode of living is in turn closely associated with geographic and climatic conditions, and with pressure of populations. In China,
there is a wide variety of conditions, and there are two main modes of living among the rural populations, characterized by the settled farmers of the eastern and southeastern parts of the country, and the nomadic and seminomadic peoples of the northern, western, and northwestern portions. There are also variations in racial stocks which affect the utilization of animals. China is primarily a land of mountains. Level land is found only along some river valleys, in delta regions and in a few other areas. I have mentioned that the settled farmers live in the eastern and southeastern parts of the country. This area of intensive farming is divided into two main regions, the rice region south of the Chingling Mountains, and the wheat region north of these mountains. Millet and kaoliang are also important grain crops in portions of the so-called wheat region. In both the ~ice region, where much of the tilled land is flooded, and in the dry wheat region, terraced hillsides are the rule. In both areas, farms are small, averaging a little over 3 acres in the rice region and about 5-5 acres in the wheat region. In both areas, the average farm is broken into about 5.6 parcels of land. Everywhere in the farming regions there is an oversupply of people and an undersupply of land, so that every available plot of soil is pressed into use for the production of human food. Under these conditions, livestock serve chiefly as work animals and scavengers, and as users of the few available by-products. Even so, a large livestock population is maintained. The farming regions are occupied chiefly by people of Chinese racial stock. The farmers in the south use the water buffalo as the chief draft animal in rice fields. Cattle, small native ponies and some donkeys are used for packing and for draft on mountain farms where rice cannot be raised. Few sheep are raised in the rice region, except in remote mountain areas. Goats are found everywhere and provide meat and hides. Little milk is used by Chinese, either from goats, or from cattle and water buffaloes. Pork is the favorite meat, even though the average Chinese gets little of it. The richer farmers keep breeding sows, and pigs are raised by as many farmers as can afford to buy them and can find enough feed. They are kept chiefly as scavengers, turning vegetable refuse into manure for the fields, until Iz to x8 months of age or older. They are then fattened rather quickly by the wellto- do farmers who have surplus grain or by sugar factories and distilleries where by-products are available.
Owing to lack of refrigeration, pork and other meats must be sold within a short time after slaughter. The common practice is to begin slaughtering about midnight, so that meat will be in the open-air retail markets by daybreak the following morning. Bristles have been one of the important byproducts of Chinese pigs, but the rapid development of synthetic bristles probably will reduce their importance. Next to pork, goat meat is most important in the Chinese diet. Some beef is eaten, mostly from worn-out cattle and water buffaloes. But there is considerable prejudice against eating the meat of a beast that has served faithfully in the fields for most of its life. There are practically no water buffaloes in the wheat region, north of the Chingling Mountains. Packing and draft work on farms is performed by cattle, horses, donkeys and mules. Horses and mules are used for draft on highways, where highways exist. Horses in this region are of the Mongolian type, much larger than ponies of the South, but still only ~z to ~4 hands high. Excellent mules are produced by mating such mares to the jacks of similar height from Shensi and Shansi. Swine in the wheat region are longer and less rotund, and are generally solid black, in contrast with the fatter animals, often with white markings, in the rice region. Sheep are more important in the wheat region, where there is considerable suitable grazing land. The goat is ubiquitous in China.
Chinese farmers have penetrated into the edges of the adjacent grass lands, wherever tillable land could be found, using land that should be reserved for producing winter feed for range livestock. But they are tillers of
the soil, not animal husbandmen. So the management of livestock on the grasslands has been left to people of other racial stocks; Tibetans in the Tibetan Plateau, Mongols in the grass lands of the North, and Kazakhs and
other groups in the Northwest. Mohammedans constitute an important group in northwestern Kansu, parts of Chinghai and Ningsia, and Sinkiang. They are not a distinct racial group but include Turkish, Mongolian and
Arab stock, mixed with Chinese, as well as some Kazakhs and others that adhere to this religion. Naturally, there is little interest in pork production in this region, quite apart from the fact that there is little suitable feed.
Sheep provide the foundation for existence in most of the grassland areas. Mutton is the most important meat. Wool is made into clothing, blankets, rugs and felt. The felt is used for boots and to cover the movable yurts in
which many Mongolians and some others live. Pelts of young sheep are used to line gowns to give protection from cold winter winds. Some skins are made into leather. Inflated sheepskins are bound together to make rafts that are used on Yellow River. Droppings are collected at night in corrals and used as fertilizer and fuel. Some sheep milk is used as human food. Wool is sold, going chiefly, in prewar days, into the carpet wool supply of the United States, to obtain cash for purchase of the few manufactured articles used in the simple life of the nomad. In the Tibetan grasslands, yaks vie with sheep for first place in economic importance. They are used for milk production and as pack animals, and to a limited extent for riding and draft purposes. Their long hair is used for making cloth for tents, and the finer undercoat is used in other fabrics. Animals are herded on the high mountains during the late spring, summer, and early fall, and are kept in the valleys in winter. During the good grazing season, butter and dried casein are prepared and stored for winter use. These and barley flour are major items in the winter diet of the Tibetan. Rancid batter is mixed with tea to make the favorite beverage. It is also used as cold cream to give protection from the wind, as "clay" for extensive sculpturing
for religious ceremonies, and as fuel in the candle pots of the lamasaries. Hybrids between yaks and cattle are also produced, and are larger, stronger pack animals and better milk producers than yaks, but they do not have the stamina and ability to exist under very rigorous conditions that are possessed by the yak. Yaks and yak-cattle hybrids are also important among the Mongols in the higher regions of Kansu and Inner Mongolia.
Cattle are also found throughout the grassland area, except at the higher elevations where only the yak can thrive. They are mostly of the Mongolian type and produce somewhat more milk than the cattle in the Chinese
farming regions. Even so, two quarts is a good daily production, if one leaves enough to keep the calf alive as a necessary stimulant to letting down of the milk at each milking. Few donkeys are found in the .open grasslands. Here, Mongolian horses provide the chief means of transportation, other than that provided by yaks in the uplands and by camels in the lower, drier areas. The camel is used chiefly in the winter. Herds of these animals are taken to the uplands for grazing during the summer, so that their humps fatten and stand erect, proriding stored food to help them through the lean winter days of caravan duty. Animals as yet have flo real competition in the carrying of freight in upland Asia. In the fanning regions, the only real competition is provided by man himself, and by small boats propelled by man on the inland waterways. India and China have had little interchange of stock and ideas in their development. The natural barrier provided by the Himalayas and their extension to the south in Burma, popularly known as "The Hump," have prevented any such interchange, yet there are many similarities. Both countries are characterized by over-population and the resulting problem of inadequately small farms. The majority of the people in the fanning regions of both countries are dependent upon a cereal diet. In India, 75 percent of the cultivated land is devoted to cereals, principally rice and wheat. Both countries have considerable areas devoted to grassland production of livestock. In India, these regions are chiefly in the drier portion of the northwest, and in the low mountain country in the south. As in China, there are racial differences which have their effects on livestock utilization, such as the Hindu's reverence for the cow, and the Moslem's abhorrence of pork. The whole structure of Indian agriculture is based upon the use of bullocks and other cattle for draft purposes. Cattle also furnish much of the power for highway transportation in rural areas, and a considerable amount even in large cities. Most native breeds are used solely for draft, but some types, such as the Sahiwal, Red Sindhi and Gir produce fair amounts of milk. In animals of the latter breeds, milk yields of four to five thousand pounds per lactation are rather common, and under the best of conditions, yields of ten thousand pounds or more are sometimes obtained. The majority of the people are Hindus and eat no meat, hence milk and milk products
provide most of the animal protein. The average Indian rice-eater's diet is inadequate, in comparison with the optimum requirements laid down by our National Research Council. For several important constituents, the
rice-eater consumes the following amounts, expressed in percent of the optimum: Calories, 58; Total protein, 54; Animal protein, 3; Calcium, 2o; Iron, 75; Vitamin A, io; Vitamin B1, 27; Vitamin C, 20. Obviously, livestock make little contribution to this diet, other than to provide the power for till/ng the fields upon which the food is raised. In areas where cattle breeding is an important pursuit, the milk consumption including ghee, or clarified butter, curd and other milk products is higher, averaging about ten ounces per person daily, according to results of one survey. With her huge cattle population, India has a host of problems, including
how to reduce numbers of bullocks to those actually needed for work, how to overcome opposition to castration of scrub bulls in villages where improved bulls are placed, how to eliminate wasteful maintenance of thousands of diseased, crippled and otherwise useless cattle in ping-rapoles or old-cattle homes, how to salvage the thousands of good cows and water buffaloes that are shipped into city dairies, milked to the end of a lactation and slaughtered, how to find a substitute fuel so manure can go on the land instead of being
burned, to mention a few. The water buffalo is the chief milk producer in India. Herds of animals of the Murrah and related breeds of the plains of north central India often produce about four thousand pounds of milk, with about 7. $ percent fat, perlactation.
The numbers of horses, mules and donkeys already given indicate the small importance of these types. Horses and ponies are of most importance in the grassland regions of the northwest and in the Himalayan foothills. The donkey and mule are generally held in low regard. Camels (dromedaries) are used extensively for packing in the northwestern portions of the country, and to some extent for draft also, around cities like New Delhi. Goats are found in all parts of India. They vary in size from the miniature animals of Bengal to the large Jumna Pari breed of north central India. Many are milked but little has been done to improve milk-producing qualities. They provide meat for the Moslem and other flesh-eating portions of the population, and also skins for leather. Long-haired types in the Kashmir area provide some fiber for textiles. Several types of sheep are produced in the drier areas adapted to sheep production. These include the fat-tailed sheep with very coarse wool in the northwestern regions adjacent to Afghanistan, and thin-tailed types that pro:luce wool of somewhat better quality, in other portions of northern and northwestern India and in some sections of southern India. There is also a brown hair sheep in southern India that is used for meat and skin production. Some sheep are milked and ewes of the Lohi breed are reported to give as much as eight pounds daily at the peak of lactation. The milk is rich in fat, and some is mixed with milk from cows and buffaloes for making ghee.
Swine are of little importance. In villages where they are raised, they serve chiefly as scavengers, often living to a considerable extent on human feces. There was a temporary boom in pork production during the war, owing to the presence of many foreign troops in the country. Close economic ties exist between our western grasslands, the midwestern feeding areas, and the meat-consuming population centers in the East. Such economic ties have not been developed in China and only to a limited extent in India. In China, there are movements of working animals from the mountain grasslands to the farms in lower areas withir; the fanning regions, of Mongolian horses from the grasslands into the wheat,farming region, and limited amounts of wool and hides find their way from the grasslands into commerce, but in general, the farming and pastoral economies are as distinct as in the days when a Great Wall was built to keep them apart.
In India, working bullocks move from the grazing areas of Baluchistan, Northwest Frontier Provinces and the Punjab to the farming areas in the north central plains; buffalo and zebu cows move from country districts into
city dairies; wool and hides move from the graz/ng areas into trade channels, but there is not the fullest development of economic ties between the pastoral and farming economies. Neither is there the large demand for livestock products among the Hindu population that is necessary to development of close economic ties.
Obviously, this is only a glimpse at the immense animal industry of either country. Much could be said of the many varied breeds and types of livestock that are found in Ch/na and India. But that could not be adequately
done without including many pictures, and such descriptions have already been given in several publications issued during recent years on Chinese and Indian livestock (see Literature Cited). But there is one point that I wish to emphasize. If one examines the photographs in the publications mentioned, most of the types of animals found in both countries may appear quite unimproved. And they would be so under Corn Belt or other near-ideal conditions. But it must be remembered that rice straw is first-class roughage for livestock in the farming areas of both Ch/na and India, that animals must pull through the winter on very poor rations in the grassland areas where little feed is put aside for their use, and that under conditions there our improved breeds often could not survive, much less produce at satisfactory levels. Until economic conditions, education, and other factprs make possible the better feeding and management of livestock in those countries, the first measure of performance is ability to survive, coupled with only as much productivity as the land will support.
Relatively few well-trained workers are available in either China or India to assume leadership in livestock and range and pasture improvement. This does not mean that they are without good men, for each country has a handful of well-trained technical men working in various phases of animal industry. Most of the leaders have had advanced training in this country or Great Britain, and in neither place, with few exceptions, have they learned the all-important lesson of breeding animals adapted to the local environment. Too frequently, they have seen fat rams and bulls and sleek dairy animals kept under the best of conditions, and have as their main objective the transplanting of such animals to their native countries. The fallacy of such an approach, at least in many circumstances, is illustrated by the results of grading up with foreign dairy breeds, mostly Holstein, in tropical India.
Records are available on animals having from ~ to ~ imported blood. The production trend begins with 4839 pounds in animals with ~ imported blood, rises to about 698o in the ı89a nd ~ groups, and drops to 618o in animals with ~ imported blood. These are animals that have been kept for the most part in military dairies and governmental experiment stations, and have had much better care than could be expected in native herds. Animal husbandry and all other agricultural education is also limited by the fact that most of the men who have sufficient wealth to attend college have never worked on the land or with livestock and so do not have a full appreciation of their own animal industry and its problems. One final point. Do we have an interest in the improvement of livestock production in underdeveloped countries such as China and India? I believe we do. And the answer seems to me to be the same, whether we look at this problem strictly from the humanitarian side, or entirely from the selfish side of guarding and improving our own well-being and our position among the peoples of the world.
Literature Cited
Phillips, Ralph W. x944. The Cattle of India. Jour. Hered., 35: ~Ty -'z88.
PhilliFs, Ralph W. i945. Tne Water Buffalo of India, Jour. Hered., 36: 7x-76.
Prallips, Ralph W. x945. Livestock in the Lives of the Chinese. Sei. Month., 6o: ~69-'z85.
Phillips, Ralph W. x945. The Horses of India. Cattleman, 32:26-~7 and 7o (Sept. issue).
Phillips, Ralph W. x94 ~. Impressions of India. Sei. Month., 6x : 397-4x~.
Phi/lips, Ralph W., Ray G. Johnson and Raymond T. Moyer. x94~. The Livestock of China.
U. S. Dept. of State Publ. No. u~49. Far East. Set. 9- x74 PP., Illus.
Phillips, Ralph W., Ilia A. Tolstoy and Ray G. Johnson. x946. Yaks and Yak.Cattle Hybrids
in Asia. Jour. Hered., 37: 16~-x7o. =o6-~i~.
