Vol. 9, Special Issue 1 (2024)

Author(s): AD Hingankar, DS Chauhan and SS Mane

Abstract: The present study conducted on “Studies on Management Practices Adopted by Gaushalas in Parbhani and Latur districts”. Data were collected from 40 selected Gaushalas and grouped into 3 categories based on total number of animals as small (100 animals), medium (300 animals) and large (>300 animals), 15 Gaushalas in small whereas 15 Gaushalas medium and 10 Gaushalas in large category in Parbhani and Latur districts. About 37.50 percent of the Gaushalas possessed medium herd size (between 300 cattle), followed by 37.50 percent with small herd size (below 100 cattle) and 25.00 percent with large herd size (above 300 cattle). Gaushalas have also been identified as the centres for conservation of declining cattle breeds. It is important to mention that, majority (100%) of the Gaushalas comparised of indigenous cattle in general and among them most of them were found to be unproductive and old which could be related to their primary objective to serve the old, infirm and unproductive cattle. Among the indigenous cattle maintained in the Gaushalas, most of them were old and unproductive cattle in small (33.33%), medium (56.12%) and large sized Gaushalas (49.51%). For proper management of Gaushala and care of cattle, enough manpower is essential. The cattle's current feeding habits in the Gaushalas region of the research. It was noted that cattle in small, medium, and large Gaushalas were fed an average of 2–5 kg/day of dry fodder, 2.0–4.0 kg/day of green fodder, 0.1–0.4 kg/day of concentrate, and 50gms of mineral mixture.