Sunandini
(most common name)
(transboundary/brand name)

Sunandini are (3/8) zebu dairy cattle.

The Sunandini was developed between 1964 and 1967 (by the Indo-Swiss Project) as a dairy breed in Kerala using desi zebu cows (i.e. nondescript zebu) and Swiss Brown bulls.

Sunandini admixtures include:
• Brown Swiss
• Gir
• Holstein
• Jersey
• Kankrej
• Sahiwal

Difficulties in distributing the genotype through the local production of progeny-tested bulls include:
• poor bull fertility
• long generation intervals
• variations between herd management practices
• the practicalities of field performance recording

Because of this, elite exotic dairy breed semen is used for a high proportion of inseminations. To maintain the appropriate balance of zebu/exotic genotype, proportional inseminations will have to be made by crossbred or purebred local bulls.

Potentially, there are considerable benefits in sustainable crossbreeding systems. 10% of India’s cattle were crossbreds of indigenous and exotic breeds in 1997. During the 1960s, one composite dairy type (derived from local cows crossed with Friesian, Jersey and Brown Swiss bulls) was named Kamaduk (the ‘Cow of Plenty’ in Hindu writings).

(Hindi) desi = indigenous to, or from, the Indian subcontinent

This page was last updated on: 2023-05-20

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