RAS question
Gir cattle, an excellent dairy breed originally from the Gir forest region of Gujarat, have been exported to which country where they are now used extensively in commercial dairy farming?
Correct answer: (C) Brazil.
Gir cattle from the Gir forest region of Gujarat were exported to Brazil, where they became important in commercial dairy farming as Gir Leiteiro.
Explanation
Gir is an indigenous Indian dairy Zebu breed from the Saurashtra region of Gujarat and is named after the Gir forest, its geographical area of origin. The Dairy Knowledge Portal describes Gir cows as good milk producers among indigenous cattle and notes that the breed has been imported by countries including Brazil. Gir cattle moved from Gujarat to Brazil in the early twentieth century, where selective breeding developed them into Gir Leiteiro, a commercial dairy line known for strong milk performance. The Brazil link is therefore not incidental; it is the country specifically associated with large Gir dairy herds and commercial use of this Indian breed.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Australia is not the country associated with large-scale commercial dairy farming based on exported Gir cattle; the established association is Brazil.
- (B) The United States may have received some Gir genetics, but Brazil developed major Gir dairy herds and Gir Leiteiro.
- (D) Kenya is linked generally with Zebu use in dairy crossbreeding, but the Gir export and commercial dairy association here points to Brazil, not Kenya.
Concept
This tests livestock geography: the origin, diffusion and economic use of an important Indian cattle breed. RAS repeats such themes because agriculture, animal husbandry and regional resource geography connect Rajasthan’s syllabus with wider Indian and global examples.