Considering the increasing spell of a heatwave in Haryana, the Karnal-based National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) has issued guidelines for dairy farmers to protect their cattle from heat stress.
This comes after the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday issued a “red alert” in most parts of the state till Wednesday.
The national institute under Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) said that due to the prevailing extreme summer conditions, the cattle are facing heat stress that is caused when cows generate and absorb more heat than they can lose to the outside environment.
“Dairy animals exhibiting signs of heat stress tend to become lethargic and inactive and will often stand with heads bowed down. They also show an increase in their respiration rates, body temperatures and exhibit more sweating. Heat stress also leads to reduced feed intake, milk production and may also decrease pregnancy rates,” the scientists at the institute said.
Dr Dheer Singh, director and vice-chancellor of the institute said that to cope up with the heat stress, dairy farmers should fill troughs/containers with fresh and clean water and it should be always be available for the animals. Proper shade, either natural (trees) or artificial sheds, helps to keep the animal body temperature within the appropriate limits.
He further said that the cattle should be fed during the time when the temperature is comparatively lower and there should be modifications in the micro-environment and diet that can help mitigate the effects of heat stress on dairy animals.
“Also, fans and sprinkles systems should be installed to help the animal to cope up with the heat stress. Heat-stressed dairy animals produce more sweat and their sweat contains high amounts of potassium and sodium, thus feeding more minerals and vitamins in summer rations is also beneficial to the dairy animals,” the director added.
The IMD has observed a rise of 2.7°Celsius in average maximum temperature and appreciably above normal by 3.2°Celsius in the state with the highest temperature at 48.4°Celsius recorded in Sirsa.
The Chandigarh-based regional centre also issued a “red alert” in Sirsa, Fatehabad, Jind, Panipat, Hisar, Rohtak, Panipat, Bhiwani, Sonipat, Charkhi Dadri, Jhajjar, Mahendergarh, Rewari, Gurugram, Faridabad, Mewat and Palwal.
For the remaining six districts of North Haryana and Chandigarh “yellow alert” was issued.
Hundreds of fish were found dead at a pond in Subhash Park of Ambala Cantonment on Sunday, reportedly due to heat and unavailability of fresh water. On Monday, officials of the civic body reached the spot and called the district fisheries department to check on the matter.
Ranjana Rani, district fisheries officer, Ambala said that fish are dying gradually due to severe heat and unavailability of fresh water, while samples of water and fish have been taken that will be tested in labs to determine the reason.
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