Mithun (Bos frontalis) is a unique large bovine species that is genetically different from cattle and buffalo with diploid chromosome number 58. It is endemic to four northeastern states viz., Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoranm and Nagaland. Mithun is reared mainly for meat purposes. Though it gives 1 - 1.5 liters of high-quality milk. Due to continuous efforts of ICAR-NRC on Mithun, Medziphema, Nagaland, this unique species is getting popularized. More and more framers are adopting a semi-intensive rearing model developed by ICAR-NRC on Mithun. If reared scientifically on a commercial scale, Mithun husbandry can fetch good income for the farmers and help in doubling farmers' income.

1. Dr. Meraj Haider Khan
Principal Scientist
ICAR-National Research Centre on Mithun
Medziphema, Nagaland-797102

2. Geographical Distribution of Mithun
20thLivestock Census (2019)
• Total Mithun population 3.9 Lakhs:
30.6% increase
• 89.7% of mithun in Arunachal
Pradesh, 5.98% in Nagaland, 2.36%
Manipur and 1.02% Mizoram
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
350000
400000
450000
1987 1997 2003 2007 2012 2019
Trend of Mithun Population
32.6%
30.6%
12.6%
-4.9%
57.2%
191.1%

3. % change in major livestock species compared
to last census
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Total
livestock
population
Bovine
population
Cattle buffalo sheep Goat Pig Mithun Poultry
4.6
1 0.8 1
14.1
10.1
-12.03
30.6
16.8
%
C
h
a
n
g
e

4. State Share (%) of mithun towards total population
(2019)
States Ind.
cattle
CB cattle Buffaloe Sheep Goat Pig Equines Yak Mithun
Arunachal
Pradesh
0.23 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.11 3.00 0.56 41.70 90.64
Manipur 0.15 0.04 0.03 0.01 0.03 2.60 0.20 0.00 2.35
Mizoram 0.02 0.04 0.00 0.00 0.01 3.23 0.03 0.00 1.02
Nagaland 0.04 0.03 0.01 0.00 0.02 4.47 0.01 0.00 5.99

5. Share (%) of different livestock species in
total state livestock population (2019)
States Ind.
cattle
CB
cattle
Buffaloes Sheep Goat Pig Equines Yak Mithun
Arunachal
Pradesh 28.62 0.56 0.55 0.63 13.76 23.38 0.26 2.07 30.16
Manipur 37.52 3.21 6.58 1.08 7.03 42.74 0.20 0.00 1.65
Mizoram 6.77 5.50 0.59 0.14 4.14 81.71 0.05 0.00 1.11
Nagaland 10.84 3.07 2.83 0.07 5.72 73.26 0.01 0.00 4.19

6. Mithun: the pride of NEH
• Plays an important role in socio-economic
and cultural life in NEH region
• Mithun commands the highest value
equivalent to GOLD in the barter system
in the society.
• State animal of Arunachal
Pradesh and Nagaland
• Phylogenetically distinct from other bos
species and originated independently of
Zebu cattle and Gaur

7. Socioeconomic importance of Mithun
 Ownership of Mithun- sign of prosperity and superiority, peace and harmony
 Sacrificial animal for different social and cultural ceremonies
 Meat purpose
 Marriage gift
 Barter trade
 Income source
 Highly nutritious milk (though at present farmers do not consume its milk)

8. Constraints of traditional mithun rearing system
1. Poor growth rate and poor return
2. Decrease in forest coverage
3. Commercialization of agriculture
4. No health control measures
5. No scientific intervention
6. Indiscriminate breeding leading to poor growth rate and
infertility
7. High mortality rate of the calves
8. Ownership conflict
9. Conflict between mithun owners and agriculture farmers

9. Semi-intensive Mithun Rearing System
 Under this system mithuns are provided with a night shelter
 The animals are let loose for grazing during the day and in the evening animals are brought back to the
shelter
 They are fed with supplements like fodder grass, paddy straw with little concentrate
 Supervision of individual animals, additional feeding, watering and medication can be done during the late
afternoon or early morning
 Mithuns can be monitored regularly for growth, reproduction, health care and breeding
Semi Intensive Mithun Rearing
Units Established (2016-19)
16
2
8
4
2

11. Supplementation of low-cost complete feed block
Low-cost complete feed block prepared by ICAR-NRC on Mithun

12. Vaccination and Health camps
Vaccination & microchip implementation in mithun

13. Ear tagging and Microchipping

14. Determination of age by dentition Pattern in Mithun
Reasons:
 There are species and breed wise variation in dentition pattern
 Helpful in determining age of animals under field condition
 Support marketing strategies since mithun is mainly reared for meat purpose
Eruption pattern of teeth:
Temporary Incisors Expected age
1st, 2nd and 3rd pairs of incisors Birth to one weeks
Four pair of incisors 3 months and above
Permanent Incisors Expected age
One pair of incisors 22 months to 3 years
Two pairs of incisors 3 to 4 years
Three pairs of incisors 4 to 5 years
Four pairs of incisors
(Full mouth condition)
5 years and above

15. Nutritional Intervention for Mithun
• Chemical and nutritional evaluation of 260 feed resources (e.g.,
tree leaves/ shrubs/grasses) for incorporation in the total mixed
ration (TMR).
• Formulation of area-specific mineral mixture for mithun
• Low-cost complete feed block using locally available
trees/shrubs and industrial by-products which improved the dry
matter and gross energy intake
• Developed a method for drying high moisture content agro-
industrial by-products (wet cake) for making paddy straw
incorporated feed block suitable for feeding of mithun during
the lean season
Area-specific mineral mixture Mineral block Complete feed block
Salt dispenser

16. Reproductive Augmentation
• Standardized the protocol for estrus
synchronization, collection and
cryopreservation of embryo in mithun
leading to the birth of first ET calf, BHARAT
on May 2012
• Developed and standardized a protocol for
collection and freezing of semen and
Artificial Insemination in mithun
• Implementation of AI since 2016 in the
farm

17. 2010-11: First AI calf born
2012-13 : First ET calf born
2015-16: Semen collection through AV method
2016-17:100% AI in Mithun Farm
2017-19: 85 AI calves born
Chronology of AI and semen collection in Mithun
MOHAN, the ETT born calf
from 100day cryopreserved
embryo
BHARAT, first Mithun
Calf born through ETT
AI born Mithun calf at
Khunoma village

19. Milking of mithun cows

20. Mithun Milk
Parameters (n=8) Mean Range
Milk fat % 6.15±0.12 3.07-9.81
SNF % 10.65±0.07 8.37–12.1
Protein % 4.14±0.03 3.23–4.72
Lactose % 5.99±0.04 4.73-6.83
Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) (n=18) 87.67±10.92 19.92 to 274.03
CLA levels in mithun milk fat is more compared to cow, buffaloes,
sheep & goats (range 3.38-23.3 for other species)

21. Rasogolla
Patties Sausages
Sensory evaluation of mithun meat products showed
organoleptic acceptability scored from good to very good
Value added products
Meat slices Nuggets Pickles

22. Mithun as a source of Meat and Milk
Mithun meat:
• Composition of mithun meat muscle (%): Protein:14-
19; Crude fat: 0.4 -3.5; Carb: 0.4 -4.9
• Higher dressing percentage than cattle: 58.82 0.62
vs 55.96  0.60 (On similar level of feeding)
• Mithun meat is leaner (12.931.89 vs 28.47 1.09 kg
fat) and more tender than beef
• Developed value added meat products (patties and
nuggets)
Particulars Mithun Cow Buffalo Goat Sheep Yak Human
Fat (%) 10.2 4.4 8.0 3.5 6.0 7.2 3.6
Protein (%) 6.8 3.4 4.5 3.1 5.4 5.3 1.8
Lactose (%) 4.6 4.8 4.9 4.4 5.1 5.0 6.8
Total Solids (%) 21.6 12.6 17.4 11.0 16.5 17.5 12.2
SNF (%) 11.4 8.2 9.4 7.5 9.5 10.3 8.6
Ash (%) 0.9 0.7 0.8 0.8 1.0 0.9 0.1
Mithun milk:
• Mithun milk composition and its comparison with
other species has been characterized
• Developed value added milk products (paneer, lassi,
dahi, and rasgolla)

23. Mithun Hide as Leather
• Mithun hides are consumed as a delicacy, among some tribes, is non-nutritious and wastage
• Mithun leather is soft and having better body and roundness, a potential raw materials for
the leather industry
• Mithun leather is better than cattle leather
Popularizing the use of mithun hide for making leather products

24. Value added mithun produce: Carcass characteristics of
mithun meat
Parameters Mithun Beef Cara beef
Moisture % 71.18 72.4 73.42
Fat (%) 1.04 6.7 3.5
Calorific value (Kcal/100 g) 108.24 133.32 125.15
Cholesterol (mg/100 g) 38.32 52.3 57.42
Calcium (mg/100g) 5.61 4.64 6.18
Thiamine(mg/100g) 0.56 0.02 0.05
Riboflavin(mg/100g) 1.55 0.06 0.13

25. Mithun as Draught Animal
• Exploring of mithun as a draught animal in the higher altitude (up to 3000mSL) where other livestock
or mechanical means may not be feasible
• Mithuns are conditioned and trained in the Institute Farm regularly for estimating its draught
capability
• Preliminary estimation of the power of the trained mithun bulls has been done based on the draft
and walking speed of the animals

26. Semi-intensive Mithun Rearing System
 Under this system mithuns are provided with a night shelter
 The animals are let loose for grazing during the day and in the evening animals are brought back to the
shelter
 They are fed with supplements like fodder grass, paddy straw with little concentrate
 Supervision of individual animals, additional feeding, watering and medication can be done during the late
afternoon or early morning
 Mithuns can be monitored regularly for growth, reproduction, health care and breeding
Semi Intensive Mithun Rearing
Units Established (2016-19)
16
2
8
4
2

27. Mithun societies registered to date
Mithun Mitra Mobile App
Technology attributes:
 Single window delivery system for
information on mithun
 Interface for mithun farmers to register their
mithun rearing societies in the institute
database
115
The app is an initiative of the Institute to
educate, create awareness and promote scientific
mithun husbandry for diversified use of mithun.
Available at Google Play Store

28. PROBABLE FACTORS FOR DECLINE OF
MITHUN POPULATION IN NAGALAND

29. Annual Compound Growth rate (%) of
livestock in Mithun rearing states (2003-19)
States Ind.
cattle
CB
cattle
Buffaloes Sheep Goat Pig Camel Equines Yak Mithun
Arunachal
Pradesh
-2.09 -6.51 0.8 -6.54 -2.73 -1.38 0.00 -4.94 5.12 3.74
Manipur -3.18 -8.72 -4.0 -0.43 0.46 -3.06 0.00 -2.07 # -3.20
Mizoram -0.48 4.65 -6.5 -5.07 0.01 1.18 0.00 -14.64 # 5.49
Nagaland -8.81 -16.5 -4.9 -13.62 -11.15 -3.65 0.00 -13.66 # -2.85

30. Survey Report
 Majority (80.16 %) of the farmers in
Nagaland (N=126, Sampled districts;
Phek, Kohima, and Peren) now rear
mithun either for sale of the
animal/meat to ensure their livelihood
security
Mithun farming contributes 35% to the total
annual income of the farmers
High inputs price for fencing the jungles is the
major constraint in mithun rearing
Agriculture
9%
Livestock
14%
Business
13%
Service
29%
Labourer
0%
Mithun
35%
Contribution to total annual income

31. Survey Report.....
 Lack of institutional efforts in promoting mithun rearing as bankable
and insured schemes
 Frequent predator attacks on calves (93.65%): About 60% mortality
rate of calf is reported every year due to predator attacks.
No regular income from mithun
Lack of awareness and misconception
Lack of proper marketing channels
Commercialization of agriculture
Jhooming and deforestation
Demand and production gap of meat and meat products

32. Shortfall in the state meat production requirement
66.7 66.7 66.7
31.95 32.45 32.03
7.28 7.28 7.28
34.75
34.25
34.66
34
34.1
34.2
34.3
34.4
34.5
34.6
34.7
34.8
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19
Total
shortfall
"000
tonnes
Meat
prouduction,
requirement
&
imported
(
"000
tonnes)
Meat Production Scenario in Nagaland (2016-2019)
Meat requirement Meat production
Total imported Total shortfall
** to compensate more sale and slaughter of mithun for meat consumption (219 mithuns sold January 2018-December 2019)
Source: Survey Report 2016-17, 2017-18 & 2018-19, Govt. of Nagaland, Dept. Of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services

33. Decrease in Forest Area
13318
13044
12966
12489 12486.4
146
274
78
477
2.6
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
12000
12200
12400
12600
12800
13000
13200
13400
2011 2013 2015 2017 2019
Reduction
in
forest
cover
(sq
km)
Forest
Cover
(sq
km)
Forest Cover Change Matrix in Nagaland
Reduction in forest cover (sq km)
Source: India State Forest Report 2011,2013,2015,2017 & 2019
Two main reasons:
• Shifting cultivation
• Development activities

34. Increase in net sown area and cropping intensity
Source: Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2017, 2018 & 2019 & Statistical Handbook Nagaland 2019
380 380 380 383 384 384 383
128.5
131.2
130.3
131.2
135.5
137.7 137.9
122
124
126
128
130
132
134
136
138
140
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19
Cropping
Intensity
Net
Sown
area
"000
ha
Trend in net sown area and cropping intensity 2012-19
Net Sown area "000 ha Cropping Intensity

35. Initiatives of NRC on Mithun
1. Popularizing semi-intensive rearing of mithun- established 22 units
2. Registration of Mithun as a Food Animal with FSSAI
3. Developing bankable scheme for mithun farming with NABARD
4. Developing Insurance policy for mithun
5. Preparing National Breeding Policy of Mithun with stakeholders of
mithun rearing states
6. Creating awareness about the diversified use of mithun including
MILK , draft and FYM, vermi composting and developing Bio-gas
plant.
7. Organic mithun production
8. Broiler mithun production

36. ITHUN
EAT
ILK
ONEY
YIKE (Bride)

37. Bursting the myths of Mithun
• Mithun is NOT a Wild/Semi-wild/Semi-domesticated
animal- but is a Domestic animal reared under free-
range forest rearing system
• Mithun can be reared like any other bovines and can
be milked
• Mithun is a “nature’s gardener’’-keeps the forest
healthy and helps in bio-conservation

38. Mithun- a unique bio-resource
An attractive alternative means to livelihood while ensuring the nutritional security,
conservation of the agro-ecological balances and preserving the socio-cultural uniqueness

39. THANK YOU!