Migratory Small Ruminant Farming System in the Himalayas-Peculiarities, Problems, Prospects, Climate Effects, Nutrition and Health

This book highlights the animal rearing system that follows a seasonal migratory cycle and in which the animals are reared in the alpine pastures during summer and are returned to the base camps at lower hills with the onset of winter. The initial chapter presents the unique features of the prevailing animal farming system in the hills, and aims at providing a brief overview of the history of pastoralism. The book also describes how the pastoral system has served livelihood of people living in high mountains, the peculiarity and features of this system in different countries, place of ruminants in hill agriculture, historical aspects of pastoralism and tribes, practice of shepherding, grazing rights of herders, current status of migratory livestock system, problems and constraints and strategies for their amelioration. The chapters also provide information on principal minerals limiting small ruminant production, causes of salt hunger in migratory animals grazing at alpine pastures, nutritional status of common pastures and feeds, variation of grass mineral profile and crude protein content with altitude. Another chapter describes how the animals adapt to altitude and migration stresses during ascending and descending journey. The chapters of the book give current information on parasitic infestations and other diseases and disorders of migratory small ruminants, ranking of dominant parasites, information on verminous bronchitis, Peste des petit ruminant (PPR) and persistent abortion due to chlamydia infection. There is a separate chapter on Helminth and Protozoan vaccines for small ruminants, approaches to control parasitic infections like breeding for resistance to parasites and current status of vaccine use.

Part I. Seasonal Animal Migration- a unique animal farming system in the Himalayas, features, nomadic pastoral communities, hardy shepherds, migratory patterns and migratory routes, problems and constraint, fate and future. - Chapter 1. Animal Migration/Pastoralism- a unique animal farming system in the Himalayas. - Chapter 2. Salient features of small ruminant migratory farming system. - Chapter 3. Migratory patterns and migratory routes of pastoral small ruminants in the Himalayas. - Chapter 4. Problems/constraints faced by the migratory animals and pastoralists, strategies for their amelioration, current status of migratory pastoralism. - Part II. High Altitude acclimatization and Adaptation of small Ruminants. - Chapter 5. Adaptational Responses to Altitude and Walking Stresses in Small Ruminants. - Part III. Impact of Climate change on transhumance and Herders perceptions to changing climate on the migratory system. - Chapter 6. Effect of changing global climate on small ruminant production system. - Chapter 7. Himalayan pastoralists perceptions to changing climate and how it is affecting the system and their livelihoods. - Part IV. Minerals and Nutritional Status of alpine gasses and tree leaves of Indian Himalayas. - Chapter 8. Principal minerals limiting production of migratory small ruminants Salt hunger in grazing sheep. - Chapter 9 Nutritional status of common Himalayan pastures and tree foliage. - Part V. Parasitic Infestations and disorders of small ruminants on Indian Himalayas. - Chapter 10 Helminths and other diseases affecting migratory small ruminants. Chapter 11. Vaccines against gastrointestinal parasitic infections for sustained health and production of small ruminants.