Thursday, 21st June 2018
21 June 2018

How Jallikattu Preserves Native Breeds? The Untold Truth Behind Jallikattu Ban!

Why Jallikattu ban? How can Jallikattu help with the safeguarding of native breeds? And why can’t breeders raise these even without occasions like Jallikattu? Many individuals who were supporting Jallikattu don’t know how to give convincing answers to these questions. Many people believe that Jallikattu assists with financing the bull. The main persuading answer for Jallikattu was that it must be held for social reasons which the majority of the general people parroted. In any case, none of them could bring up out to the genuine reasons why this was advantageous. The advantages of A2 milk and how the preservation of native breeds which have the gene for creating A2 Milk is important, but none of them have an answer to the essential question – How does Jallikattu help in their safeguarding and what is in it for local raisers.There are two types of beta-casein protein which are the dominant casein proteins in cow’s milk:


  • A1 protein
  • A2 protein

During ancient periods all the cows bestow us milk with rich in A2 protein. Be that as it may, 5000 years back when relocation started happening to Europe, a hereditary transformation caused cattle taken to Europe to produce milk where both A1 and A2 protein were available approximately equal amounts or Where A1 protein dominated. The vast majority of the breeds in Europe, US and Australia deliver milk rich in A1 protein while local breeds in Asia and Africa create milk rich in A2 protein. In any case, delayed consequences of colonization and artificial insemination brought on these distinctions to vanish and interbreeding of dairy cattle brought about cows’ milk in Asia and Africa to likewise have both proteins. Be that as it may, pure breeds (ones with A2 milk) still do exist in Asia and Africa.

Scientific research has established the difference in the way the human digestive system (and digestive enzymes) processes these two proteins. The digestive enzymes respond to these proteins in an unexpected way. In view of these differences, many research articles have touched base at the conclusion that A1 milk protein could be the reason for different chronic diseases like type 1 diabetes and so on. There exists research despite what might be expected too i.e. there is no relationship between’s A1 protein and chronic diseases. In any case, the majoritarian see right now is that A2 milk is more valuable than A1 milk.

There is one more important point to be made here. When we interbreed a bull and a cow (and if one or both of them were an offspring of a cow that produced milk rich in A1 protein) then the new offspring will also have this trait. It has been scientifically demonstrated that the gene which causes cows to create milk rich in A1 protein is a dominant gene and subsequently all offsprings will likewise have this trait.

In India, there are 37 local breeds (there were 150 a century back) and of these 36 have the A2 protein gene in them. The main breed Malvi (normal in Maharashtra) has the gene for A1 protein. In any case, this bull is for the most part used for ploughing and cows bred with this bull are average milk producers and thus not a reason for significant concern. That basically implies that all the 6 native breeds found in Tamilnadu have the A2 protein quality in them which makes it all the more critical for us to protect them.

Presently before we address why Jallikattu helps in safeguarding native breed, let us comprehend what will happen if all these native breeds become extinct. We will then need to interbreed and depend intensely on artificial insemination. Artificial insemination is a costly procedure and we depend on semen imported from nations like US, Australia, Denmark and New Zealand from Jersey bulls and other such breed referred to have A1 protein as the overwhelming quality. This basically implies our generation and future generation will then need to live with milk rich in A1 protein and furthermore the related issues like type1 – diabetes, autism etc. The other inconvenience with artificial insemination (Manual sperm injection) is that the offspring will not be healthy as its genes that are required for it to adjust to the climate and local changes which a native breed has to a higher extent.

Now, this brings into picture an MNC, A2 Milk Company with the presence in US, Australia and New Zealand. This organization holds the patent for trivial things like genetically testing whether a cow has an A1 quality or A2 quality. In any case, what is disturbing is the patent that they hold for artificial insemination of A2 gene bull’s semen. They hold the patent for this technique which causes A2 quality turn into the dominant gene instead of A1 which happens normally. It smothers the dominant tendency of A1 gene. Presently if every single native breed in India were devastated then we have to either manage with A1 milk or we may need to pay a hefty royalty to A2 Milk organization for utilizing its patented technique to produce cows rich in A2 gene. Presently this is what is disappointing the majority of these cattle breeders in TamilNadu. The question that is being raised is that when our breeds are perfectly capable of creating A2 milk, why must constrain ourselves to be a slave to some other MNC organization holding a patent for this. They also accuse this MNC for funding PETA in the US. In any case, this organization has been donating to PETA in the US, Australia and New Zealand which is suspicious yet doesn’t establish that they are behind the protest in India.

Now let us address why Jallikattu helps in saving our Native breed.

In TamilNadu, breeders rear bulls with the goal of exhibiting them in Jallikattu. The vast majority of the agriculturists can’t bear to raise these bulls and are subsequently dependent on these breeders or on the common temple bull which is reared by the whole town instead of a solitary breeder. The bulls that charge well in the Jallikattu field are in steady interest for overhauling the cows. So we can think Jallikattu a marketplace for these bulls. Presently this still doesn’t answer why Jallikattu alone can help in this and why breeders can’t breed these native bulls independent of whether Jallikattu happens or not.

To understand that we will have to understand the chronology of events that lead to Jallikattu and events that happen thereafter. Jallikattu is held amid Pongal time  (i.e. mid-January), the strong bulls are identified and mated with cows. After this, the cultivating season begins. Subsequent to the gathering is done; this cycle begins again where the breeders feature their bulls in Jallikattu occasions. Individuals with a sharp eye for this then make note of the most strongest bulls and afterward search them out later in what is known as a sandhai (market place) in Tamil

Now how does Jallikattu help in the process?  The bulls used for mating need to be virile. During the mating season (which is normally after Pongal), these bulls should be at the highest point of their game  i.e. they should discharge all the necessary male hormones, experience adrenaline rush and furthermore a fast beating heart. This is the place Jallikattu comes in picture. The time when the bull is discharged from the Vaadi Vaasal (the little-restricted door from which the bulls are discharged) and till the time it figures out how to achieve the other end (if it is not subdued) causes it to experience an awesome adrenaline rush which then lifts it’s testosterone levels and furthermore keeps its heart thumping at a rate quicker than typical levels. This builds their virility and this is a standout amongst the most key of all necessities for the specific breeding. Should this be possible without an action like Jallikattu? Conceivably yes then the number of matings a bull can accomplish decreases significantly. Jallikattu helps in expanding this which is of most extreme significance to a farmer’s prosperity. Additionally, in light of the fact that artificial insemination is not adjusted for native breeds, the prohibiting of an occasion like Jallikattu will prompt to these native breeds getting destroyed which would then compel our hands to depend on artificial insemination the very procedure which the farmers shunned, to begin with.

In spots where occasions like Jallikattu are not held, the male calves (which are essentially useless unless there is demand for tasks like ploughing) are butchered. But in spots where Jallikattu is held, these calves are held on to for the purpose of showcasing them and establishing their superiority.

This is the reason why the Jallikattu ban is totally disturbed the farmers’ community and the other native people across Tamil Nadu to retain their cultural event.

How Jallikattu Preserves Native Breed? The Untold Truth Behind Jallikattu Ban!
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Jallikattu is a 2000-year-old tradition in Tamil Nadu that helps to preserve the native breed. Read more to find out the untold truth behind Jallikattu ban.
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