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.

Dr. S.P. Singh is the former Director of the Central Institute for Research on Cattle (ICAR) and led the national effort to develop the high-yielding Frieswal crossbred cattle. He has served as Visiting Adjunct Professor at SVP University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut and  as Founder Professor and Head of Veterinary Physiology at HP Agricultural University, Palampur during which time he headed  the ICAR Project “Studies on adaptational aspects of migratory sheep and goats of Himachal Pradesh”  as Principal Investigator. Earlier to that he had worked as Associate Professor at Pantnagar University.

Dr. Singh made pioneering contributions to thermal acclimation in calves, draft capacity of working bullocks, and a diagnostic test for sodium status in large ruminants. His work is cited in key international books on livestock nutrition and veterinary haematology. He has received several research and teaching awards and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Veterinary Sciences (NAVS).

With extensive experience in research proposal formulation, he has been the principal investigator of multiple national projects and has evaluated numerous research initiatives. He has served on university, national, and international committees and was Vice-President of the Society of Animal Physiologists of India. Dr. Singh has over 29 years of experience in teaching, research, and administration, with more than 90 publications in reputed journals.

Dr. Jitendra Kumar Malik served as Joint Director (Research) at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) and as Head of the Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology. He was also a Professor at Gujarat Agricultural University. He conducted pioneering research in toxicology and pharmacology in Germany and contributed significantly to pharmacokinetics, chemotherapy, and biochemical pharmacology.

Dr. Malik has received numerous awards, including the Alarsin Research Award, IVRI Best Teacher Award, and prestigious fellowships. He has held leadership roles in various scientific societies and served on editorial boards of leading journals. He has worked as an FAO consultant and an expert for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

With over 150 research articles and 130 additional publications, he has also authored and contributed to numerous book chapters in internationally recognized scientific publications.