Calcium and Phosphorus Ratio in Soil, Native Grasses, Water and Bovines and Its Correlation with Productivity

Minerals play vital role in growth, sexual maturity, conception and milk production. Reproductive problems viz. delayed puberty in heifers, post pubertal anoestrus, repeat breeding and prolonged post partum anestrous, prolonged service period and calving interval in cattle has been observed to be a major cause for poor productive and reproductive performance under this island ecosystem. Therefore, the study was undertaken to correlate the extent to which calcium and Phosphorus were responsible for reproductive performance of bovines. In Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the concentrate feeding to bovines is uncommon. Thus bovines are fully dependent on grazing or forage feeding. Most of the soil of ANI is acidic which makes phosphorus (P) less or unavailable to plants. Hence, fodder growing to these soils possesses poor phosphorous content. Similarly, high and intense rainfall washes topsoil leading to leaching of minerals from top soils. The plants growing on such soils will have lower content of these mineral(s). Animals reared on these fodders will thus get lower mineral content affecting the productivity. Lower calcium (Ca) level fails to onset estrous and lower phosphorous level results in prolonged but weak estrous without conception. Hence the present study was conducted to determine the calcium and Phosphorus content in soils of various terrains (valley, hilly and sloppy pasture land) and its availability to plants, forage, and animals through forages and its correlation with productivity