| Summary: | Madura cattle is one of local cattle in Indonesia. This cattle were formed from crossing of Bali ,Ongole and Javanese cattle in Madura island, Indonesia. The uniformity of the breed was developed through tuft selection by the people in Madura. The social and cultural values of Maduranese embedded with the existence of Madura cattle. There are two cultural activities that involving Madura cattle, there are Sonok and Karapan. Those are identify markers of the Maduranese throughout Indonesia.
Sonok are heifer/cow contest. It is purposed to select the good heifer/cows based on their exterior performance. While, Karapan is a colourful male cattle race held every year after harvest season. Karapan cattle are mostly produced in an isolated district, where Madura cattle are conserved pure, but threatened by inbreeding. While Sonok cattle are produced in other districts, where crossbreeding with exotic breed also occurs.
The aim of this study was to explore the characteristic and reproduction performance of Madura cattle cows which produce progeny for Sonok and Karapan cattle.
Twenty five heads of cows which produce Sonok cattle and 39 heads of cows which produce Karapan cattle were measured of their exterior performance. A total 55 Sonok and Karapan cows owner farmers have been interviewed to obtain the reproduction performance of the cattle. The official of Sonok contest and Karapan race have been interviewed to reveal the criteria applied to select cattle used for those activities.
In general, body size of Sonok cows are bigger than that of Karapan cows. The differences on the body size of Sonok and Karapan cows can be explained by several factors, such as selection within breed and management by farmers. Criteria applied to select cattle used for Sonok is emphasized on exterior performance, while for Karapan, only on their speed of running. Reproduction performance of Sonok and Karapan cows are relatively high. Cultural practices in keeping Sonok cattle and criteria applied to select it, can be considered for conservation Madura cattle.
Keywords : Madura cattle, Sonok, Karapan, conservation
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