Lovely Dairy Camels

The more lovely, the better the yield. It is the principle of dairy camels. Watch the video and see how lovely our dairy camels are.

Below is the link to the video.
Lovely Dairy Camels

Biodiversity, climate change and food security: Not the black sheep of domestic animals: Unprecede...

Biodiversity, climate change and food security: Not the black sheep of domestic animals: Unprecede...: Not the black sheep of domestic animals: Unprecedented in-depth view of the genetic history of sheep

Camel! A One in All Creatures – Natural Health with theCamel Milk

Camel! A One in All Creatures – Natural Health with theCamel Milk:



'via Blog this'

Natural Health with theCamel Milk – Camel milk is attracting millions of people at the global level. The main attraction is its health promising characteristics. Camel milk might be super food as well as a natural pharmacy in the ongoing climate change scenario. Human health's challenges like viral outbreaks, super bugs, and allergies etc can be better addressed with the camel milk.

Natural Health with theCamel Milk – Camel milk is attracting millions of people at the global level. The main attraction is its health promising characteristics. Camel milk might be super food as well as a natural pharmacy in the ongoing climate change scenario. Human health's challenges like viral outbreaks, super bugs, and allergies etc can be better addressed with the camel milk.:



'via Blog this'

Biodiversity, climate change and food security: Camel Strategy to Achieve Food Security Challenge ...

Biodiversity, climate change and food security: Camel Strategy to Achieve Food Security Challenge ...: Survival of dromedary camel in harsh and hostile environment (hot weather conditions) is the salient feature of this unique animal. It ...

Hidden Treasure! The Camel Milk

Camel milk is a unique and incredible creature of God. Not only a food but a gift of nature for natural health and beauty. This hidden treasure (camel milk) is now attracting the attention of million of people around the world because of many reasons. I am hereby introducing a new blog posts series entirely on camel milk. In this blog, I’ll try to compile and review the scientific and indigenous knowledge/literature regarding camel milk. The camel milk is finding its ways in a world where the camel is not found naturally. In last June, on the eve of the world camel day (22 June 2014) Japan’s TV channel NHK interviewed me on this important treasure. They showed interest in camel milk as; Japanese are very health sensitive.https://camel4milk.wordpress.com/

Camel Milk can Conserve Shark Fish

In Japan health conscious people use Shark fins for natural and good health as (they think) Nanobodies (NB) found in Shark fins are health promising. This is the reason that Shark prices are very high in Japan. Recent studies revealed that such NB is found in camel milk far richer than the Shark fins. A famous chef name Chinn (protecting Shark) even claimed “Shark’s fin soup has no taste! You take fins off a shark and you don’t really get anything. There’s no value except what you’re paying for.” Camel milk can be a good source of NB and reasonable replacement to the Shark fins.

Eye Sight and the Camel Milk

Camel milk is a nervine tonic and helps in good eyesight. The pastoral people depending on camel milk never get weak eyesight. Their eyesight is promising. The author has personally noticed this unique character of camel milk. The camel pastoralists are very healthy, having good eyesight, healthy skin and smart thin bodies.

Aphrodisiac

Camel milk is used as an aphrodisiac, especially in the stressful conditions of the dry hot weather. Sexual stimulants are still often called "aphrodisiacs" (after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love). Aphrodisiac characteristics of camel milk are linked with the Nanobodies found in this gift of nature (CM). 

Colostrum (First Milk)
Colostrums (white and slightly diluted as compared with the colostrum of cow) contains antibodies such as IgA, IgG, and IgM. In mammals
Other immune components of colostrum include the major components of the innate immune system, such as lactoferrin, lysozyme, lactoperoxidase, complement, and proline-rich polypeptides. Camel’s colostrum is rich with total solids (TS) and at 3 hours post-partum total solids (T.S.) averaged 30.4 percent. Colostrums are rich with probiotics which act as antibodies which can also be a good tool to fight viral infection. What if scientists suggest camel milk/colostrums for the prevention of AIDS, MARS and Ebola virus.

Infant Formula
Its composition is closer to human milk than cow's milk is, so it is better for infant formula powder milk. Also, its higher calcium intake is important for growing children and helps to prevent Osteoporosis. Research proved that camel milk is a safer alternative than goat milk for kids in cow milk allergy (CMA) situation. Furthermore, like human milk, camel milk does not contain β lactoglobulin, the protein present in cow’s, goat’s and horse’s milk that is the main cause of cow’s milk allergy. Cow’s milk allergy can also be caused by hypersensitivity to beta-casein. Camel milk also contains beta-casein, but the structure of this protein in camel milk is very different to the structure of this protein in cow’s milk.

Possible Super Market for Camel Milk
It could be the 'super food' of the future in the Western and other developed countries, and generate much-needed income for developing countries. The United Nations is calling for the milk to be sold to the West. Japan and other Far East countries can be great markets for camel milk and a replacement for shark fins; I think.



Continue reading, more information is coming.
https://camel4milk.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/camel-a-one-in-all-creature/

Email from Vivek about a Camel Story and Dream

Dear Raziq and colleagues,
On the occasion of BSA 2012 award ceremony one women livestock keeper from Tamil Nadu was curious with camel story and interacted with Dayali Devi Raika and Rajasthan group  .Khieta ram Raika ( if we are correct -young man ) told that they are not sending camels for slaughter purpose even after attaining old age  against a question asked by Tamil Nadu woman. The woman wondered about the story of creation of camels by Lord Shiva after Goddess Parvathy made camel like structure  using clay material as explained by us  . That is why she raised the question that such a sacred creation is sent to slaughter purpose after attaining old age  . (According to her Lord's  creation shall be allowed for full life till death ) . 
The next day Tamil Nadu woman offered Rs 50 to Dayali Bhai . We asked the reason for offering Rs 50 . 

Tamil Nadu woman told that  she had dashan of Lord Siva and Parvathy together in her dream last night and they (Siva and Parvathy ) were telling that they are on the way to Rameswaram and remove her (TN woman ) sin's too. Those are blessed who ask  such question with full faith upon camel story ? . 
Lastly TN women told that Rs 50 is given for her to do Pooja for Lord Shiva after Dhyalibhai return to her native place . She also told that camel keepers are together coming  along with Lord Siva and Parvathy as she believes.
Those who work for camels including Raziq are also blessed by Lord Siva and Parvathy . OK Raziq !
Those who  respect LIFE of all creatures to the extent possible are  blessed by the creator ? 
Sincerely,
P.Vivekanandan,
SEVA,

The Story of Kharai Camel

The Kharai camel breed is rare species which thrives only in mangrove forests. In Kutch region usually, the camels spend 3 days feeding in the mangroves and then one day back on the mainland for drinking fresh water and then the cycle repeats.

In Kutch region of Gujarat about 16 generations ago (400 years back) camels have been maintained by Rabaries (Hindus) in Pipar village, Lakhpat taluka . During that time there was a dispute in one of the Rabari family when they want to divide their property between 2 brothers. There was only one camel left in the family and 2 brothers wanted to own the single camel and they were unable to settle the matter. They went to one Muslim saint named Savlapir who lives in nearby Mangroves Island adjacent to the village. By seeing the complicated issue Savlapir made a small camel with clay and he asked choice of 2 brothers to take each one takes one camel.

The elder brother immediately opted for living camel and it had been given to him. Then the younger brother with the blessings of Muslim saint had to take the clay camel with him. Savlapir told that the single clay camel which will be multiplying into many camels on the way to his home.  The Muslim saint advised the younger brother that he should not turn back while returning home. The saint told the younger brother he can hand over surplus camels to the Muslim community in case Rabari families unable to maintain them. Then many camels appeared and followed the younger brother. The younger brother had a doubt in his mind to see back whether camels are really following him. Then he turned back.This has stopped the further appearance of new camels and he returned home with many numbers of camels already appeared along with him.

Now a day there are no Rebaries has been rearing the camels but the Jat community (Muslim) alone keeping the kharai camels. One of the Jat (Muslim) family Mr.Aga Khan Savlani who is living now in Pipar village can be traced back to 16 the generation of the Muslim saint Savlapir who lived in the island of mangroves.

 Source: This story has been revealed by Mr. Ramesh Bhatti,  Sahjeevan, Bhuj, Gujarat

 Recorded by:  P.Vivekanandan, SEVA Jan 2013. 

Camels in the Outback - Al Jazeera English~ The Story of Australian Camel and Qatari Camel Lover

A few days before I met Sultan Al hajiri, the Qatari camel lover, during a camel conference in Dubai. Here is a link about his efforts for the camels' survival.




Camels in the Outback - Al Jazeera World - Al Jazeera English

World Camel Day 22 June 2012

camel day in Sakrand Sindh

I feel very much pleasure that world camel day was celebrated almost all over the world. Here in Pakistan we had programs in many parts of the country.
One program was arranged in Quetta Press Club. Dr Raziq presented on the important issues of camel and the importance of a world camel day. There was a program at Sakrand Sindh in Benazir Bhuto Shaheed international veterinary University.  The main program was in the university of Agriculture Faisalabad. There was a big gathering and camel events.  I received letters from many camel keepers and stake holders.
My friend Ramesh Bhatti from Kachh India also shared photos of a program in this regard. More than 250 camel keepers participated in his program.

                                                Kachh India


                                                     HAPPY CAMEL DAY TO ALL

Global overview of camel ~ Some quick facts

Productivity

Camel is a unique animal with a very strong and stable power of productivity. 

Camel milk: Three is no visible improvement in camel dairy productivity. Also, data collection method is poor for a camel. According to the international data, there is only 2.5 percent increase in camel milk worldwide. About the aspect of consumption, Saudi Arabian people are the top consumer of camel milk, top at world level.

Camel meat: Camel meat makes 0.13 percent of total meat production of the world. Unfortunately, there is higher meat consumption than camel overall growth in population. But still data on camel meat is lacking, i.e. there is no data on camel meat in Pakistan.

There is no correlation in consumption of camel product and GDP of the nations.

Some more fact

·         The research work and publications are mostly originated from camel countries.

·     There is no correlation between economic importance and camel number of publications. It means there is no link between the number of research work and the economic importance of camel in that country.

There is growing interest of western researchers for camel as a biological model, resulted in slight increasing in number of publications
There is still limited work on camel genetic, breeding and selection etc.
 Also, there is lack of reliable data on camel meat quality and marketing
Adaptation of camel to intensification is there but the results are no yet well known
The camel is not endangered species at the global level but its development is quite unequal,  It mean, it is introducing in new habitats, especially in Africa
Some camel pastoralist’s communities are replacing cattle nomadism with camel nomadism.
 Still there is lack of knowledge on camel
International Society of Camelids Research and Development (ISOCARD) resulted in significant development on camel research and publications.

ABSTRACT FROM THE SPEECH OF DR BERNARD FAYE, EMINENT SCIENTIST OF CAMEL WORLD.

Is the world too big to fail? - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Is the world too big to fail? - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

A unique and fascinating creature! the camel

Author:

Dr Abdul Raziq
Camel had been playing pivotal role in socioeconomic life of its breeders. Camel is highly admired throughout the histroy. This precious animal is unique of its kind and highly useful in desert and steepy terrians of the world. Camel is even highly praised in the religeous beleives and highly appreciated in the holy books.


In holy Quran it is said 'Do they not look at the Camels, how they are made?  And at the Sky, how it is raised high?  And at the Mountains, how they are fixed firm? And at the Earth, how it is spread out?  In these honored verses, Allah (Praise & Glory be to him) surpassed the camel upon all other living creatures, and made the contemplation of how it was made prior to raising high the sky, fixing firm the mountains, or spreading out the earth. In this honored verse, the Creator, who knows the secrets of his creatures, advises people to think and contemplate in creating camels as a creature witnesses Allah\'s glory, power and planning.


The Arabs believe that only the camels know the one-hundred name of God, means that the human being knows 99 names of Allah and 100th name is only known by camel. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) delivered his last sermon, which is considered the Charter of the Humanity, while sitting on a camel called Qiswah. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) will be sitting on a camel while entering Jannah and Hazrat Bilal (RTA) will have the Mahar of the camel, leading camel to Jannah.


Camel has itself all the capabilities, which are scattered in all the other known and useful animals. Every product of camel is useful. Even urine and faeces are valuable. Camel urine is used for medicinal purposes, otitis (ear infection), ascities (water belly) etc, and faeces is used as organic manure and fuel. The long bones of camel are used by jewelers in some Arab and African countries. The camel rearing communities have very firm links with camel culture, e.g. camel racing and dancing are very common.


Some of the many known and unknown qualities and significances of camel are presented in the ensuing lines.

• Camel is the only livestock specie which was originally domesticated for milk; God gifted the camel to Prophet Saleh (PBUH) for milk only, almost 3500 BC.



• Camel is the only animal of dry lands which can produce up to 40 liter milk per day in ordinary grazing conditions. Such high yielding specimens are found in Pakistan, especially in deserted areas of the country.



• It is the most efficient in milk production on per unit feed consumption basis, i.e. a cow in rangelands conditions needs 9.1 kg of dry matter feed to produce one liter of milk, while camel produce one liter of milk by consuming only 1.9 kg of dry matter feed in the same conditions.



• The lengthy days without water couldn\'t depress the camel\'s milk quantity or quality. The milk becomes even more watery during the period of water scarcity to fulfill the water requirements of thirsty suckling calves.



• Camels have four teats with at least two orifices in each teat. If one orifice is blocked the milk can come through the other orifices.



• Camel contains equal quantity of milk in four quarters, not like cows, which have more milk in hindquarters.



• The colostrums are white and watery instead of thick and cream colored (cow colostrums).



• The content of niacin in camel milk is remarkably higher than in cow milk.



• Camel milk contains five times more vitamin C compared to cow milk. Vitamin C is anti infectious and is very important for human health, especially in dry and deserted areas.



• Camel milk contains insulin like protein and is therefore used to treat Diabetes mellitus.



• Camel milk has higher levels of potassium, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, sodium and zinc than cow milk



• Camel milk contains medicinal properties to treat different ailments such as autoimmune diseases, allergies, asthma, rashes, diabetes, liver disorders, ascites, rheumatism, inflammatory conditions, piles, urethral irritation, infectious diseases like tuberculosis, stress, depression, peptic ulcers and cancer.



• Camel milk is a nervine tonic and helps in good eyesight. The pastoral people depending on camel milk never get weak eyesight.



• It is a booster of the immune system, contains protective proteins, including the immunoglobulin necessary for maintaining the immune system and nutritional advantages for brain development.



• Camel milk has higher levels of lactoferrin and lysozyme which play a central role in the determination of these properties.



• It contains 25-30 times as much lactoferrin as cow milk. Lactoferrin is a fairly recently discovered iron containing protein that has been shown to have antiviral, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and anti-carcinogenic effects.



• Camel milk is use as aphrodisiac, especially in the stressful conditions of the dry hot weather.



• The low quantity of beta casein and the lack of beta lactoglobulin are linked to the hypo-allergic effects of camel milk.



• Because of the low lactose content, it does not cause lactose intolerance problem in infants. Camel milk can be the best replacement of infant food after the mother\'s breast.



• Camel milk is a rich source of proteins with potential anti-microbial and protective activity.



• The camel milk fat is bound with the protein; therefore, it is difficult to remove fats from camel\'s milk. The fat globule are smaller in camel milk than in cow milk and it\'s explain that camel milk is unstable at high temperature.



• Camel milk protein is coated with fats, which enhance protein absorption. It passes the acidic stomach undisturbed (does not coagulate easily because of fat coating) and reaches the intestines for absorption.



• Camels\' milk fat contains much higher concentration of long-chained fatty acids (C 14 - C 18) than short-chained fatty acids, and is therefore healthier.



• Sour camel milk is not waste but is a part of the traditional diet in Somalia as 'susa' and in Arabia as 'Al-garss' and in Baloch pastoral as 'Sorain'.



• A camel dairy in the UAE and an Austrian chocolatier recently teamed up in a joint venture to produce chocolate made from camel milk, sweetened with honey from Yemen.



• Making cheese from camel milk can be difficult, but the Maurietanian Tiviski Dairy processes camel milk into modern, high-quality products. Camel cheese 'Camelembert' is one of their special items.



• Mongolian nomads in the Gobi Desert distil a delicious drink from soured camel milk with low alcohol content, known as 'camel vodka'.



• Camel ice cream was first promoted by the Israeli scientist Reuven Yagil, but the National Research Centre on Camels in Bikaner, India, now also produces a delicious camel milk-based kulfi, a local variation on ice-cream.



• Camel oil, produced in Australia, is lower in cholesterol than other animal cooking fats, and can be used to make soaps and cosmetics, even creams for sensitive baby skin. A line of cosmetics based on camel milk is also the dream project of Nancy Abdeirrahmane from the Tiviski Dairy. Camel meat is healthier as they produce carcasses with less fat as well as having less levels of cholesterol in fat than other meat animals.



• Camel meat is also relatively high in polyunsaturated fatty acid in comparison to beef. This is an important factor in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.



• Camel meat is also used for remedial purposes for diseases such as hyperacidity, hypertension, pneumonia and respiratory disease as well as an aphrodisiac.



• Camels reach live weights of about 650 kg at 7–8 years of age, and produce carcass weights ranging from 125 to 400 kg with dressing-out percentage values from 55to 70 Camel carcasses contain about 57muscle, 26bone and 17fat.



• Camel lean meat contains about 77water, 19protein, 2.8fat, and 1.2ash with a small amount of intramuscular fat, which renders it a healthy food for humans.



• Camel meat has been described as raspberry red to dark brown in color and the fat of the camel meat is white.



• The amino acid and mineral contents of camel meat are often higher than beef, probably due to lower intramuscular fat levels.



• Camel meat has been processed into burgers, patties, sausages and shawarma to add value.



• Because of its low cholesterol content, Australia\'s National Heart Foundation has put camel meat on its list of highly recommended food items. 'Camburgers' and 'camfurters' are among the products that have been produced by a team of scientists around Prof. Farah at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.



• Camels can travel many days without feed or water. In the kind of terrain I like to ride in, this is a very important factor.



• A traveler can continue journey without bothering too much about the feed and water. Camel eats each and everything when tired and hungry.



• The long muscular legs allows camels to cover great distances, they walk up to 40 km per day with 200 to 300 kg of baggage.



• Camel is better as riding animal than horse. They are quieter and gentler than horses.



• Camels seem smarter than horses about getting themselves out of a precarious situation. If a horse gets tangled up in a rope, it may struggle violently and get rope burns (or worse). A tangled up camel will, after briefly testing the bonds, sit quietly and figure out what to do next.



• Camels can carry more weight than horses. Also, a well-designed camel saddle has more room to carry whatever extra gear you are packing than a horse saddle has.



• Riding a camel is quiet and peaceful (that is, once the camel is well trained enough that it no longer grumbles along the way). Camel\'s slipper-like feet make hardly any noise. Without the clip-clop of hooves, you can hear the wind sighing in the brush, the rustle of autumn leaves, a coyote howl in the distance on a moonlight ride.



• The camel gets in high spirits at the tune of music and songs and it walks faster in spite of being tired.



• The camels are the most disciplined and obedient creatures. They and can be ordered to sit or stand again and again and can walk in a row silently behind the leading man, woman or even a child.



• The camel is a unique beast of burden, which is loaded in sitting position and gets up with a jerk of its long neck.



• Camels do not need to be shod. The cost of shoeing horses can really add up! Furthermore, camels don\'t usually colic like horses do, although they occasionally bloat.



• There is a certain pride in riding a well-trained camel. It is a sign of prestige for camel owner to ride and travel on a meahari camel.T



• The disease register of camel is quite short (very few fatal diseases are reported in camel). Camel is resistant to many notorious diseases like foot and mouth disease, mad cow disease (BSE) and Brucellosis etc.



• Camel is resistant to ticks diseases. A load of more than 100 ticks on camel body cannot affect camel health and production.



• The camel has a large mouth, with 34 sharp teeth. They enable the animal to eat rough thorny bushes without damaging the lining of its mouth.



• Camel can eat everything (bark, dates seed, salty mud and even paper) when there is scarcity of feed, while in good feeding conditions, it does prefer protein rich diet.



• The long flexible neck and legs saves it from ground heat and gives easy approach to tall trees for browsing. Camel can browse at 3.5 m above the ground.



• The formation of the mouth is such that there are long conical papillae on the inside of the cheeks directed backward and the camel can browse at the thorny plants without any harm. The canine teeth help the camel to take into grip the twigs. Such kind of teeth is not found in other ruminants. The soft palate is developed and comes out on one side of the mouth like a red hanging bladder. This happens usually in rutting (breeding) seasons.



• Camel has a well-developed power to smell. They can smell water 50 mile away by smelling geosmin which is a fragrance produced by streptomytes species growing in the dump soil.



• Under very hot conditions, the camel may drink only every 8-10 days and loose up to 30of the its live body weight through dehydration. Other animals die at 10live body loss through dehydration.



• Camel urinate less than 1 liter of urine per day in hot summer days. In the period of water scarcity camel urinates a semi liquid substance like syrup.



• Oval shape erythrocytes (instead of round in other animals) expand up to 200their normal size as camels drink rapidly an amount of 190 liter of water in 10-15 minutes.



• Camel can store water in its all body compartments (intracellular, extracellular, blood and digestive tract etc). Every organ has the extraordinary capacity to store water.



• They can live without water for 3 days in summer and 7 days in winter. However, there are some examples of this animal remaining without water for 20 to 40 days. After 40 days the camel goes blind due to excessive dehydration.



• Camel can vary body temperature up to 6.7 Cº, having a great endurance power to stand scorching heat. Camel even absorbs heat in the day time by increasing body temperature and dissipates it in the cool night.



• The ability of camel to allow its body temperature to fluctuate in response to some form of environmental stress saves significant amounts of energy and water.



• The well-developed hump is full of fat that serves as a store of water and food at the time of starvation. The fat of hump gets dissolved gradually during starvation and collects again at the time the camel gets adequate water and feed.



• The flat pads of the feet are horny and cushioned and help the camel to walk on the sand without making any sound while the feet of other animals sink into the sand. Due to this quality, the camel has been given the name as the 'ship of the desert'.



• Camel feet are soft and friendly to vegetation. The hooves of cow or small ruminants are more aggressive to the soil and contribute more often to the degradation of the pastures in case of overgrazing.



• The chest pad helps the animal to take rest on it while sitting on the ground. The rest of the body is saved from concussion against the ground. There are other pads at the knee and half joint and in front of the joint of thighs. These prevent the limbs from concussion against the ground.



• The spines of all vertebrates of the thoracic region are long & high and make the hump, which is more developed than all other Brahman cattle.



• The camel sleeps less and possesses great power of remembrance. It keeps in mind the harsh behavior, beating or even the abuses from the camelman and takes revenge at the appropriate time.



• The male urinates in spurts while standing and urine goes back in between the hind legs and falls on the ground. Its refresh the femoral vein and decrease the heart temperature for water economy. This enables the animal to save itself from slipping in its urine.



• Camels are hornless and lack gall bladder.



• Camel has prominent eyes with a wide range of vision. They are protected by an overhanging upper lid with long eyelashes, which protect the eyeballs from powerful rays of the sun.



• The upper lip of the mouth has a cut in the middle. The flaps of the upper lip not only help in catching the twigs (thin shoots of the trees and bushes) but also enable the nostrils to cover to keep out the sand and dust at the time of dust storms.



• The ears are small but have a great power of hearing. Camel can hear and understand the voice of its herder from a long distance.



• The camels are regarded as the most intelligent animals and can find out their way in the desert when there are no signs of road.



• The Bedouin gives name Ata ullah to camel, mean the gift of God.

Besides above mentioned peculiarities, camel is always neglected among the policy makers. It attributes are never praised and no visible effort has been done for its development. Camel can be a good tool in the global environmental changing scenario and food insecurity situation. Camels are very much under threat and up to 25 of the camels are vanished in the last decade, especially in Asia. Only 2010 thousands of camels were dead because in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India of a new respiratory camel disease. In spite of many cries by the author and other friends no positive response was attracted. I hereby appeal the international bodies like FAO, IFAD and other organization to give proper place to camel in international policies for agriculture.






Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/nature-articles/a-unique-and-fascinating-creature-the-camel-4217611.html
About the Author
Dr Abdul Raziq, PhD in camel breeding and production. Author has been the part of international forums working on the livestock and agriculture issues. He is the president of the Society of Animal, Vet. and Envrionmental Scientists. The author is working for the LIFE Network also, which struggle for the rights of livestock keepers at global level.

Season of Camel Fairs in Pakistan

Photograph for Mangrota Camel Fair

Note: To know more about Mangrota Camel Fair, please visit: http://saves.org.pk/pub/6.pdf

Camel plays very pivotal role in the sociocultural and socioeconomic life of its herders throughout the world. Pakistan is the home of almost one million camels belong to many diverse breeds. There are three main habitats of camel in the country, i.e. desert, plain lands and mountains. The camel in the above three ecosystems are very diversify from each-other and among themselves in the same habitat. This difference makes a beautiful biodiversity of camel in the country and making more than 16 breeds of camel. Pakistan is rich with camel culture and every tribe of camel keepers know all the attributes of their type of camel. At the end of their camel year, they celebrate camel mela or fair in many parts of the country. Such melas are the best place where the camel herders meet and share their experiences and situation. Thousands of camel are bring and these melas are use as a unique and major market place for camel business. Such fairs are mostly link with some spiritual or religious rituals and the camel herders link camel with spirituality.
Here below are the names of the famous melas of the country. Most of them are held in the months of October, November and December.

The most important camel events at country level in Pakistan are; 

• Anayat Shah
• Karorr Pakka
• Sakhi Sarwar
• Shah Jamal
• Odaro lal
• Mangrota
• Jalsa (DG Khan)
• Sibbi Mela
• Chnan peer (Cholistan)
• and Thandla

These events provide a noble chance for camel stake holders to meet and enjoy different events like folk music, camel dance, racing and camel fighting etc. The same events are the key business points of camel.
The government support is very limited in these cultural events. There is always lack of facilities, especially water sources are very scarce. 

Also, some people bring camels with some epidemic disease which causes havoc losses. 
Being the organizer of Camel Association of Pakistan (CAP), I hereby appeal government to please take interest and help the camel herders and pastoralists. Also, these events can be good sources of revenue generation if tourists are attracted.

Illegal camel export threatening camel population in Pakistan
Pakistan is the cradle of animal genetic resources, camel is one of the most special. Pakistan is home to more than 20 breeds of camel, living in different types of habitats and ecosystems. Camel provides food and livelihood to millions of people and live in harsh and hostile regions of the country. Camel is facing many problems and threats, all are man-made.

Illegal camel export is one of the major threat to camel population in Pakistan. Thousands of camel export to Iran and Gulf countries illegally and very inhumane. There is severe shortage of meat in country but this precious and healthy source of meat is going without any hurdle and difficulty. Though there is ban on live or meat of animals but it is continue under the eyes of the administration. Here is the link of a short video clips, loading camels in a big loading truck to export to Iran. The situation is eyes opening.

A unique and fascinating creature! the camel

Small-scale production systems secure sustainable food supply and conserve biodiversity

Author:

Dr Abdul Raziq
Small-scale production system (SSPS)

In this article, the term SSPS will be use both for agriculture and livestock production. SSPS is playing crucial role in the food production and biodiversity conservation throughout the world. In agriculture, SSPS is mainly comprised of the farmers holding less than 2 hectares land. Such farmers usually depend on their local seed verities and use farm yard manure from their own animals waste for the fertility of their field crops. They do not use or rarely use pesticides and herbicides. They control pests with their own local/indigenous knowledge (IK), mainly comprised of biological control. They use their own skills for weeds control, as rotational cropping and grazing by the livestock etc.


Small-scale livestock production is based on subsistence foundations. Such livestock keepers keep mostly their indigenous livestock breeds, as local breeds are well adapted to the ambient ecosystems (harsh and hostile). Local livestock breeds are resistant to many diseases and pests, like ticks and flies etc. Indigenous livestock breeds (ILB) need very low inputs or even zero inputs for their production and survival. In many cases small-scale livestock keepers are landless farmers. They rely on marginal lands for grazing of their livestock; such lands have no other use. The small holding agriculture farmers are also holding small-scale livestock for food production, agricultural operations and soil fertility.


Small-scale agricultural systems are more resilient to climate change and ensure biodiversity. Their production system is quite sociable and in concord with the biodiversity. In most of the cases, small-scale production is organic in nature and health friendly. Traditional and indigenous cultures may be sources of agricultural knowledge useful for devising sustainable production systems. Small-scale producers therefore have an important role to play in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, especially MDG1.


Food security: Food is the very basic need and its security is the right of every individual on the globe. With a slight improvement this year but still the number of hungry people is around one billion. Food security is one of the major concerns of the present global scenario. Unfortunately most of them are from the developing country. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are far away to achieve, especially MDG1 (eradication of extreme poverty and hunger).


The situation is even more worsening because of much sad state of situations, like land grabbing, factory farming, struggle for gene control and climate change scenario etc. Open market economies, multinational companies struggle to control on gene and political influence of the rich people combine affect the small-scale production systems adversely. Small-scale production systems are the guarantee of safe food for millions of people on one hand and conservation and sustainable use of the biodiversity on the other hand.


Biodiversity: Biodiversity conservation is link to the question of food security. There is very strong link between biodiversity and food security. More diversified the agroecosystems (life, soil and landscape etc) more the resilience of the community to climate change. Unfortunately, more than 90of the crop varieties have disappeared from farmers fields and half of the breeds of many domestic animals have been lost. The other flora and fauna, not documented and studied are even not recorded.


Unfortunately, the present high input unsustainable production systems are based on high inputs (pesticides, fossil oil, fertilizers and antibiotics) and promote monoculture. Such move is resulting in the ever high loss of biodiversity and eliminating SPSS at high level. Because of high demand for animal protein, a short cut solution was adapted to cross the indigenous livestock breeds with the high yielding exotic breeds. Very limited number of breeds/verities within a species were selected for food production resulted in the narrowing the consumption of biodiversity in food chain. Also a high selection intensities within these breeds/verities resulted in further narrowing the gene pole of the biodiversity. The genetic variation, comprised of components between and within breeds/verities, is now under threat because of such intensive selection. The dependency on the genetic resources for food is narrowing, making the food chain even more fragile.


Also, big ideas like dams, highly mechanized monoculture agricultural production (green revolution) resulted in high level of environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. Such dilemma resulted in minimizing the options sustainable food production.


Conclusion: Small scale production system is very important for food security in the climate change context and conservation of biodiversity. Millions of the people around the world are involved both for production and consumption through this system. Such system is very much resilient to the climate change and droughts. While using very low or neglected quantity of fossil oil, they are mitigating climate change. The system is custodian of the precious biodiversity of agroecosystems, rich with biodiversity and in harmony with nature. Unfortunately the forces like, globalization, open market economies, gene control and industrialization/mechanization in agriculture are threatening this system. There is utmost need to characterize, documentize, visualize and prioritize this system both as a food security option and conservation of the biodiversity. Also, it is the need of time to give opportunity to play its role in the future food production systems.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/small-scale-production-systems-secure-sustainable-food-supply-and-conserve-biodiversity-5158906.html
About the Author
Being the president of the Society of Animal, Vet. and Environmental Scientists (SAVES), I am working on the issues of dry lands and indigenous livestock breeds with respect to climate change scenario. Author had been working with the pastoral people for last 10 years, while characterizing and documenting livestock breeds and indigenous knowledge, especially related to camel. Ahthor had been delivering training to the livestock keepers in remote for vaccination, drenching and other valuable practices. I am the author of the indigenous livestock breeds, livestock production systems of the tribal people and indigenous knowledge in Balochistan province, Cholistan and Thar Desert of the Great Indian Desert. He had been traveling with the Afghan nomads (Kochis) to work and document on indigenous knowledge and livestock breeds/husbandry.


Author organized camel scientists and herder in Pakistan and founded Camel Association of Pakistan. I am PhD in camel science and presented many international research presentations at various occasions.Dr Abdul Raziq had visited many countries and research stations.