Difference between pages "Agriculture in Kazakhstan" and "Kalmyk cattle"

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[[File:Песня жаворонка(3264-2448).jpg|thumb|right|300px|Grain fields near [[Kokshetau]]]]
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'''Kalmyk cattle''' ({{lang-ru|'''Калмыцкая'''}}, '''''Kalmytskaya''''') are a [[beef cattle]] breed originating in [[Mongolia]] and northwestern [[China]] and taken to southeastern [[Russia]] by migrating [[Kalmyk people|Kalmyk tribes]] in the early 17th century.
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They are now found in [[central Asia]] and Southern Russia on dry steppe pastures.<ref>[http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/ah759e/AH759E08.htm Food and Agriculture Organisation genetic resources study]</ref>
  
'''Agriculture in Kazakhstan''' remains a small scale sector of [[Kazakhstan|Kazakhstan's]] [[Economy of Kazakhstan|economy]]. Agriculture's contribution to the [[Gross domestic product|GDP]] is under 10% - it was recorded as 6.7%, and as occupying only 20% of labor. At the same time, more than 70% of its land is occupied in crops and animal husbandry. Compared to [[North America]], a relatively small percentage of land is used for crops, with the percentage being higher in the north of the country. 70% of the agricultural land is permanent pastureland.
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==Description==
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Kalmyk cattle are red with white markings on the head, belly and legs. They are medium-sized, compact animals with a small head, long face and short horns. There is a well-developed [[dewlap]]. Believed to originate from Indian cattle they have a high number of sweat glands, allowing them to endure high summer temperatures, and grow a long thick coat in winter.
  
Kazakhstan's largest crop is [[wheat]], which it exports. It ranks as the sixth largest wheat producer in the world.<ref name=SRI>{{cite news | url=http://silkroadintelligencer.com/2008/03/06/kazakhstans-wheat-dilemma/ | title=Kazakhstan's wheat dilemma | publisher=Silk Road Intelligencer | date=March 2008 | accessdate=2008-06-26}}</ref> Minor crops include [[barley]], [[cotton]], [[sugar beet]]s, [[sunflower]]s, [[flax]], and [[rice]]. Agricultural lands in Kazakhstan were depleted of their nutrients during the [[Virgin Lands Campaign]] during the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] era. This continues to affect production today. [[Kazakh wine]] is produced in the mountains east of Almaty.
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Cows weigh around 420 to 500&nbsp;kg and bulls 750 to 850&nbsp;kg.
  
In 2011 the country had achieved record grain harvests of 26.9 million tonnes, exceeding the previous record of 21mn tonnes recorded in 2009. For 2012, the Kazakh Agriculture Ministry cut the crop forecast to only 14 million tons because of dry weather.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kazakhstan Maintains Grain Export Levels|url=http://www.satrapia.com/news/article/kazakhstan-maintains-grain-export-levels/|accessdate=21 July 2012|newspaper=The Gazette of Central Asia|date=21 July 2012|publisher=Satrapia}}</ref><ref>http://www.companiesandmarkets.com/Summary-Market-Report/kazakhstan-food-and-drink-report-q1-2010-169546.asp</ref>
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The Russian cattle expert A.V. Cherekayev wrote about the Kalmyk breed in his book "Beef cattle raising: breeds, techniques, herd managing" (Moscow, 2010):
 +
:"For a long time this breed was considered an aboriginal cattle, which, as well as Kyrgyz cattle was in need of further enhancement.  
 +
 +
However deeper research showed that the Kalmyk cattle is a quite modern and highly productive breed, which has its own distinctive structure embedded into the breed’s array. It is a breed that possesses a set of valuable qualities that no other breed in the world has. Therefore, the decision was made to bring the Kalmyk breed into accordance with modern requirements.
  
Animals raised in Kazakhstan include cattle, chickens, sheep, pigs, horses and goats (in descending order of numbers). Meat production in tons was highest in cows, pork, mutton(meat), chicken, and "other meat". Wool, cow milk, and eggs are the other major animal products of the country.
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The pedigree work on Kalmyk cattle was at one time headed by two talented scientists from Orenburg Research Institute of beef cattle breeding – masters of agricultural science A.V. Zarkevitch and G.S. Azarov.
  
Kazakhstan has the largest [[wolf]] population of any nation in the world, with about 90,000.
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In relatively short time they revealed a number of highly productive related groups of animals and unified them into branches and families, studied and developed different types within the breed and different areal types. On their proposal a number of pedigree cattle farms (outfit) were founded in Republic of Kalmykia, Rostov and Astrakhan regions.
  
In March 2015 the Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan said that Kazakhstan had almost doubled agricultural production in the past 5 years.<ref name=agri22>{{cite web|title=Kazakhstan doubled agricultural production in the recent 5 years|url=http://www.finchannel.com/index.php/business/item/41760-kazakhstan-doubled-agricultural-production-in-the-recent-5-years-a-mamytbekov|website=www.finchannel.com/}}</ref> He also noted that the agricultural exports had increased by 1.6 times during that period and had reached 3 billion USD.<ref name="agri22"/>
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The Kalmyk breed is typical steppe cattle, well adapted for breeding not only in arid steppes, but also in semidesert and even desert conditions.
  
On July 23, 2015, the Kazakhstan Vice Minister of Agriculture said that within the framework of the law "On Agricultural Cooperation" a special tax regime would be introduced for agricultural cooperatives.<ref name=kaziag>{{cite web|title=Special tax regime to be provided to agricultural cooperatives - Agriculture Ministry|url=http://www.inform.kz/eng/article/2799598|website=http://www.inform.kz}}</ref> This initiative is expected to contribute to the development of the agricultural sector of Kazakhstan.
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Having strong and hard frame and conformation, as early as on the fourth or fifth day after birth, Kalmyk breed calves are able to walk many kilometers a day through dry steppe at 30-40 °Ce heat in search of feed and water. The Kalmyk breed has no equals among other cattle breeds in terms of robustness, hardiness, strength of the frame and conformation. Therefore, the technique for breeding it can be even more yielding, more simple and cheaper than for other beef cattle breeds. The Kalmyk breed is represented by quite large animals. Live weight of cows is around 500 kilograms, bulls – 700-800 kilograms. Cows have excellent maternal qualities. They never have calving problems. The cows will never allow any predators, including wolves or even unfamiliar people to approach not only the calves but also the herd itself. In harsh steppe conditions they raise their calves up to 180-200 kilograms by the age of 6–8 months.
  
From 1995 to 2015 Kazakhstan’s volume of agricultural production has increased by 41%. Agricultural exports were worth $379 million in 2015, reports the Ministry of Agriculture.<ref>{{cite web|title=Investment in agriculture totals 167 billion tenge in 2015|url=http://kazakh-tv.kz/en/view/business/page_157525_investments-in-agriculture-totals-167-billion-tenge-in-2015|website=kazakh-tv.kz}}</ref> Investment in Kazakh agriculture increased 50% in 2016 totaling 228 billion tenge (US$686.96 million) compared to 148 billion tenge (US$445.92 million) a year earlier.<ref>{{cite web|title=KazAgroFinance Seeks to Grow Agricultural Technology, Production|url=http://astanatimes.com/2017/01/kazagrofinance-seeks-to-grow-agricultural-technology-production/|website=astanatimes.com}}</ref>
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Kalmyk cattle have its own secure, nowadays largely unoccupied niche – vast Russian steppes in the East and the West of the country. They can be quickly and successfully utilized by the use of Kalmyk cattle and high-quality beef can be produced there.
  
==State programs==
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===Beef===
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The beef, produced by the Kalmyk breed, has extraordinary taste qualities, especially for cooking bouillon. Many researchers have noted insufficient muscling on the rear part of the carcass of the Kalmyk breed animals. It is due to the animals’ conditions of living: they have to walk tens of kilometers a day in search of water and feed. Numerous researches in the field of crossbreeding the Kalmyk cattle with Hereford, Angus, Shorthorn and other breeds of beef and dairy cattle have not brought any significant results neither in the past nor in the present. The crossbreeding only led to diminishing in adaptability to extreme environmental factors. Therefore, the most effective way to breed Kalmyk cattle is pure-breeding, and the best environment for it is steppes.
  
=== Agribusiness - 2020 ===
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==Pedigree farms==
In February 2013, the Government of Kazakhstan approved a new sectoral program of agro-industrial complex development for 2013-2020 “Agribusiness – 2020” at a session chaired by Prime Minister [[Serik Akhmetov]].<ref name=primeminister1>{{cite web|title=The official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan|url=http://www.primeminister.kz/news/show/29/v-pravitelstve-prinjali-programmu-razvitija-apk-«agrobiznes-2020»/12-02-2013?lang=en|website=www.primeminister.kz}}</ref> The Agribusiness-2020 Program aims to develop four dimensions: financial recovery, increase of affordability of products, works and services for the agro-industrial sector entities, development of the state system of agricultural producers support, improvement of efficiency of the state management system of the agro-industrial complex.<ref name="primeminister1"/>
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The Zimovniki stud farm in Rostov region still remains the best pedigree farm (outfit) breeding Kalmyk cattle. The pedigree herd was formed there by A.V. Zarkevich as far back as in the prewar period.
  
In line with the Agribusiness-2020 Program, the [[Government of Kazakhstan]] approved one stimulation package in April 2014: the rules of subsidizing efforts to restore agricultural companies to health.<ref name=tengri1>{{cite news|title=Tengrinews|url=http://en.tengrinews.kz/finance/Kazakhstan-to-subsidize-agro-industry-253092/|publisher=Tengrinews}}</ref> In the first half of 2014 it is planned to provide 140 billion tenge ($770 million) to second-tier banks for this purpose.<ref name="tengri1"/> Experts doubt that capital subsidies alone can provide a remedy to Kazakhstan's agricultural development challenges. Instead, more encompassing institutional reforms such as improvements in the rural education system and a devolution of political power to local decision makers are recommended.<ref name=IAMO>{{cite web | url=http://www.iamo.de/dok/IAMOPolicyBrief15_en.pdf/ | title=A policy agenda for agricultural development in Kazakhstan | publisher=Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO) Policy Brief 15 | date=February 2014 | accessdate=2014-10-18}}</ref>
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In 2009 the owners of the RusBusinessInter firm, energetic entrepreneurs Shuchkin V.V and an Indian citizen Mataru Raju, founded a large Kalmyk breed pedigree farm in Borsky and Kinel-Cherkassky counties of Samara region. The farm’s herd was based on pedigree cattle bought in Republic of Kalmykia. However the most important thing wasn’t that they brought beef cattle there, but that they organized beef cattle breeding there and after having implemented a special resource-saving technique started mastering the science of herd managing. There is no such beef cattle-breeding outfit anywhere else in Russia.
  
=== Financing of cooperatives ===
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The Kalmyk breed is one of the most ancient cattle breeds in the world. Probably, this breed inhabited the Russian steppes during the Mongol invasion.
In 2016 Kazakhstan's Ministry of Agriculture launched a program aimed at providing financing to cooperatives that help farms buy equipment, store and transport products, provide veterinary services, organize the supply of fodder and agrochemical products and help with lending.<ref name="agrcoop">{{cite web|title=Government to launch additional 410 agricultural cooperatives to assist small farms|url=http://astanatimes.com/2017/03/government-to-launch-additional-410-agricultural-cooperatives-to-assist-small-farms/|website=astanatimes.com}}</ref> This program allowed 157 cooperatives provide assistance to 15,000 farms. The cooperatives created more than 100 milk collecting centres and 7,000 forage bases.<ref name="agrcoop"/>
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== Grain production ==
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==Historical==
 +
The famous historian of Genghis Khan Erendzhen Khara-Davan wrote in his book “Genghis Khan” (author edition, Belgrade 1925) that even at the time of birth of the great Mongolian commander Genghis Khan (1155 or 1162 AD), Mongols, apart from hunting, were engaged in migratory cattle breeding, constantly moving through the steppes in search of pastures for their numerous cattle herds. As they advanced, already as conquerors, to the North and West, to colonize the new lands Mongol armies brought with them civilians with their nomadic tents and belongings, including horses and beef cattle.
  
Kazakhstan is one of the world’s major wheat and flour exporters. It is among the 10 largest wheat producers. The main grain crop is milling wheat, which is typically high in quality and protein. There is a growing trend for Kazakhstan to export its grain internationally.<ref name=embassy1>{{cite web |title=Agricultural Sector|url=http://www.kazakhembus.com/page/agricultural-sector|website=Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan}}</ref> In 2011, the country netted a record crop – nearly 27m tonnes, which enabled it to set its grain export target at nearly 15m tonnes for the 2011/2012 marketing year.<ref name="embassy1"/> FAS/Astana forecasts Kazakhstan’s wheat production in 2014 at 14.5 million tons, up from 13.9 million tons in 2013.<ref name=usda1>{{cite web|title=USDA: Grain Report |url=http://gain.fas.usda.gov/Recent%20GAIN%20Publications/Grain%20and%20Feed%20Annual_Astana_Kazakhstan%20-%20Republic%20of_4-1-2014.pdf |website=http://gain.fas.usda.gov}}</ref>
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Above mentioned Erendzhen Khara-Davan, explaining the reason why Batu Khan (Genghis Khan’s grandchild) stopped the advance of his armies 200 kilometers from [[Novgorod]] and decided not to seize the city, wrote that the succulent grass of the outskirts of Novgorod and Pskov was unsuitable for feeding the steppe animals, including horses and cattle. It would have led to inevitable loss of cattle. The Genghis Khan’s grandson knew that, but for some reason our scientists don’t take it into consideration. For many years they have been trying to promote breeding Kalmyk cattle in woodlands, in the North or even in the mountains.
 
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In July 2015, Minister of the National Economy Yerbolat Dossayev announced that Kazakhstan would increase export of grain and flour to Kyrgyzstan by 50-60% by 2020 after Kyrgyzstan's accession to the Eurasian Economic Union.<ref name=kazi>{{cite web|title=Kazakhstan to increase export of grain and flour to Kyrgyzstan by 50-60% - National Economy Minister|url=http://kazinform.kz/eng/article/2795201|website=kazinform.kz}}</ref> According to the head of the ministry, as of July 2015 trade turnover between the two countries was more than US$1 billion.<ref name="kazi"/>
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=== Long-term production trends ===
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In 2013, the Kazakh Ministry of Agriculture released a Master Plan for “The stabilization of the grain market”.<ref name="usda1"/> This Plan is in support of their Agribusiness – 2020 program and in it the Ministry sets goals and projections for grain production, consumption and exports between 2013-2020.<ref name="usda1"/> A few key trends shown in these projections include:
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* The Ministry projects sown area for all grains to stay relatively steady over this period, falling only slightly.
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* There is projected to be a sizeable shift from wheat, with wheat area projected to fall 2 million hectares (14 percent) from 13.5 million hectares in 2012 to 11.5 million hectares in 2020.
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* Most of that reduced area is expected to be replaced with so called “feed crops” primarily feed grains, which are projected to increase 1.5 million hectares (53 percent) from 2.8 million hectares to 4.3 million hectares in 2020.<ref name="usda1"/>
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== Investments ==
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In 2014 the volume of investments in Kazakhstan’s agricultural sector exceeded 166 billion KZT, which is 17 percent more than in 2013.<ref name=agri>{{cite web|title=Kazakhstan ups investments in agriculture|url=http://www.azernews.az/region/77170.html|website=www.azernews.az/}}</ref> The aggregate profitability index of large and medium-sized companies operating in Kazakhstan’s agricultural sector stood at 17.7 percent, while this index was equal to 4.5 percent in the same period of 2013.<ref name="agri"/>
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Investment in agriculture in 2015 increased 3.4 times, which totaled to 167 billion tenge.<ref>{{cite web|title=Investments in agriculture totals 167 billion tenge in 2015|url=http://kazakh-tv.kz/en/view/business/page_157525_investments-in-agriculture-totals-167-billion-tenge-in-2015|website=kazakh-tv.kz}}</ref>
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== Partnerships ==
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On May 23, 2015, United Nations [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] (FAO) Director-General José Graziano da Silva and Kazakhstani Minister of Agriculture Assylzhan Mamytbekov signed an agreement establishing an FAO Partnership and Liaison Office in the country.<ref name=grain>{{cite web|title=FAO to create liaison office in Kazakhstan|url=http://www.world-grain.com/articles/news_home/World_Grain_News/2015/05/FAO_to_create_liaison_office_i.aspx?ID={4140A973-219A-4A21-B31E-C1B2E3A97DBA}&cck=1|website=http://www.world-grain.com/}}</ref> The FAO's new partnership with Kazakhstan will bring FAO and the government together to support national development goals and priorities as well as assist other countries in the region.<ref name="grain"/>
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== See also ==
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*[[Agriculture in Central Asia]]
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*[[Kazakhstan]]
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*[[Agriculture]]
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== Sources ==
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*[http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Kazakhstan-AGRICULTURE.html Agriculture in Kazakhstan]
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*[http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Kazakhstan-ANIMAL-HUSBANDRY.html Animal Husbandry in Kazakhstan]
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*[http://bs-agro.com/index.php/news/kazakhstan Agriculture in the Black Sea Region]
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==References==
 
==References==
{{Reflist}}
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{{Reflist}}
 
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{{Asia topic|Agriculture in}}
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{{Europe topic|Agriculture in}}
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{{Kazakhstan topics}}
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[[Category:Agriculture in Kazakhstan|*]]
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[[Category:Cattle breeds]]
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[[Category:Agriculture in Russia]]
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[[Category:Agriculture in Mongolia]]
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[[Category:Agriculture in Kazakhstan]]
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[[Category:Agriculture in Uzbekistan]]
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[[Category:Agriculture in Turkmenistan]]
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[[Category:Agriculture in China]]
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[[Category:Cattle breeds originating in Mongolia]]
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[[Category:Cattle breeds originating in China]]

Revision as of 02:28, 11 February 2016

Template:Multiple issues Kalmyk cattle (Template:Lang-ru, Kalmytskaya) are a beef cattle breed originating in Mongolia and northwestern China and taken to southeastern Russia by migrating Kalmyk tribes in the early 17th century. They are now found in central Asia and Southern Russia on dry steppe pastures.<ref>Food and Agriculture Organisation genetic resources study</ref>

Description

Kalmyk cattle are red with white markings on the head, belly and legs. They are medium-sized, compact animals with a small head, long face and short horns. There is a well-developed dewlap. Believed to originate from Indian cattle they have a high number of sweat glands, allowing them to endure high summer temperatures, and grow a long thick coat in winter.

Cows weigh around 420 to 500 kg and bulls 750 to 850 kg.

The Russian cattle expert A.V. Cherekayev wrote about the Kalmyk breed in his book "Beef cattle raising: breeds, techniques, herd managing" (Moscow, 2010):

"For a long time this breed was considered an aboriginal cattle, which, as well as Kyrgyz cattle was in need of further enhancement.

However deeper research showed that the Kalmyk cattle is a quite modern and highly productive breed, which has its own distinctive structure embedded into the breed’s array. It is a breed that possesses a set of valuable qualities that no other breed in the world has. Therefore, the decision was made to bring the Kalmyk breed into accordance with modern requirements.

The pedigree work on Kalmyk cattle was at one time headed by two talented scientists from Orenburg Research Institute of beef cattle breeding – masters of agricultural science A.V. Zarkevitch and G.S. Azarov.

In relatively short time they revealed a number of highly productive related groups of animals and unified them into branches and families, studied and developed different types within the breed and different areal types. On their proposal a number of pedigree cattle farms (outfit) were founded in Republic of Kalmykia, Rostov and Astrakhan regions.

The Kalmyk breed is typical steppe cattle, well adapted for breeding not only in arid steppes, but also in semidesert and even desert conditions.

Having strong and hard frame and conformation, as early as on the fourth or fifth day after birth, Kalmyk breed calves are able to walk many kilometers a day through dry steppe at 30-40 °Ce heat in search of feed and water. The Kalmyk breed has no equals among other cattle breeds in terms of robustness, hardiness, strength of the frame and conformation. Therefore, the technique for breeding it can be even more yielding, more simple and cheaper than for other beef cattle breeds. The Kalmyk breed is represented by quite large animals. Live weight of cows is around 500 kilograms, bulls – 700-800 kilograms. Cows have excellent maternal qualities. They never have calving problems. The cows will never allow any predators, including wolves or even unfamiliar people to approach not only the calves but also the herd itself. In harsh steppe conditions they raise their calves up to 180-200 kilograms by the age of 6–8 months.

Kalmyk cattle have its own secure, nowadays largely unoccupied niche – vast Russian steppes in the East and the West of the country. They can be quickly and successfully utilized by the use of Kalmyk cattle and high-quality beef can be produced there.

Beef

The beef, produced by the Kalmyk breed, has extraordinary taste qualities, especially for cooking bouillon. Many researchers have noted insufficient muscling on the rear part of the carcass of the Kalmyk breed animals. It is due to the animals’ conditions of living: they have to walk tens of kilometers a day in search of water and feed. Numerous researches in the field of crossbreeding the Kalmyk cattle with Hereford, Angus, Shorthorn and other breeds of beef and dairy cattle have not brought any significant results neither in the past nor in the present. The crossbreeding only led to diminishing in adaptability to extreme environmental factors. Therefore, the most effective way to breed Kalmyk cattle is pure-breeding, and the best environment for it is steppes.

Pedigree farms

The Zimovniki stud farm in Rostov region still remains the best pedigree farm (outfit) breeding Kalmyk cattle. The pedigree herd was formed there by A.V. Zarkevich as far back as in the prewar period.

In 2009 the owners of the RusBusinessInter firm, energetic entrepreneurs Shuchkin V.V and an Indian citizen Mataru Raju, founded a large Kalmyk breed pedigree farm in Borsky and Kinel-Cherkassky counties of Samara region. The farm’s herd was based on pedigree cattle bought in Republic of Kalmykia. However the most important thing wasn’t that they brought beef cattle there, but that they organized beef cattle breeding there and after having implemented a special resource-saving technique started mastering the science of herd managing. There is no such beef cattle-breeding outfit anywhere else in Russia.

The Kalmyk breed is one of the most ancient cattle breeds in the world. Probably, this breed inhabited the Russian steppes during the Mongol invasion.

Historical

The famous historian of Genghis Khan Erendzhen Khara-Davan wrote in his book “Genghis Khan” (author edition, Belgrade 1925) that even at the time of birth of the great Mongolian commander Genghis Khan (1155 or 1162 AD), Mongols, apart from hunting, were engaged in migratory cattle breeding, constantly moving through the steppes in search of pastures for their numerous cattle herds. As they advanced, already as conquerors, to the North and West, to colonize the new lands Mongol armies brought with them civilians with their nomadic tents and belongings, including horses and beef cattle.

Above mentioned Erendzhen Khara-Davan, explaining the reason why Batu Khan (Genghis Khan’s grandchild) stopped the advance of his armies 200 kilometers from Novgorod and decided not to seize the city, wrote that the succulent grass of the outskirts of Novgorod and Pskov was unsuitable for feeding the steppe animals, including horses and cattle. It would have led to inevitable loss of cattle. The Genghis Khan’s grandson knew that, but for some reason our scientists don’t take it into consideration. For many years they have been trying to promote breeding Kalmyk cattle in woodlands, in the North or even in the mountains.

References

Template:Reflist