Strategies for Managing Livestock under Environmental Stresses in Drylands of India

Abstract

Many factors affect livestock production in drylands. Variability in climate is one of the main limiting factors of production efficiency. The important environmental stressors include (i) heat stress due to direct effects of high temperature and solar radiation on animals, and (ii) nutritional stress due to adverse effects of low rainfall and frequent droughts on crops and rangelands. Heat stress is one of the major causes that can negatively affect both production and reproduction in livestock, especially in animals of high genetic merit. Sustainable development in drylands can only be achieved through optimum utilization of its natural resources. Major advances in management strategies, including improved housing and feeding manipulations, can attenuate the effect of thermal stress on livestock performance. The efficiency of these management strategies depends on several factors related to the animal (species, physiological stage and breed) and the livestock production system (intensive vs. extensive systems). Maximizing the production level and the efficiency of livestock enterprises is important; however, economic considerations largely determine the level of environmental manipulation selected for livestock production systems.