B I O D I V E R S I T A S
ISSN: 1412-033X
Volume 16, Number 2, October 2015 E-ISSN: 2085-4722
Pages: 327-354 DOI: 10.13057/biodiv/d160230
Review:
Genetic diversity of local and exotic cattle and their crossbreeding
impact on the quality of Indonesian cattle
SUTARNO
♥
, AHMAD DWI SETYAWAN
Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Sebelas Maret University. Jl. Ir. Sutami 36A Surakarta 57126, Central Java,
Indonesia. Tel./Fax. +62-271-663375,
email: nnsutarno@yahoo.com; volatileoils@gmail.com
Manuscript received: 3 September 2015. Revision accepted: 30 October 2015.
Abstract. Sutarno, Setyawan AD. 2015. Genetic diversity of local and exotic cattle and their crossbreeding impact on the quality of
Indonesian cattle. Biodiversita16: 327-354.Several species of cattle had been domesticated around the world, but only two species were
farmed extensively, zebu cattle (Bos indicus) of the tropics and taurine cattle (Bos taurus) of the subtropical areas. Both of them had
hundreds variety of offspring in the worlds. The third species of cattle that most widely farmed was Bali cattle (Bos javanicus), an
indigenous cattle from Indonesia that was domesticated from wild banteng (Bos javanicus javanicus). Besides Bali cattle, Indonesia had
also some local cattle as direct descendants of or as Crossbreeds of those three cattle. These cattle had been adapted to climatic
conditions, feeds and diseases in Indonesia. Local zebu cattle that relatively pure were Peranakan Ongole (PO) or Ongole breeds and
Sumba Ongole (SO). The main Crossbreed between zebu and Bali cattle was Madura cattle. The other well-known cattle of this were
Aceh cattle, Pesisir cattle, Rancah cattle, Jabres cattle, Galekan cattle and Rambon cattle. Crossbreeds of taurine and zebu cattle
generally produced calf that declining reproductive ability in generations. One fairly successful was Grati cattle or Holstein Freisian
Indonesia (FHI) which was a crossbreed of Holstein Friesian and PO cattle. In recent decades, there were many crossbreed activities
through artificial insemination between local cattle and taurine cattle to produce excellent beef cattle, mainly Simmental and Limousin.
This activity was carried out widely and evenly distributed throughout Indonesia. It was conducted on all local cattle breeds and was
strongly supported by local farmers. This crossbreeding activity was feared to change the genetic diversity of local Indonesia cattle,
where the descendants could not adapt to the climatic conditions, feeds and localized diseases; and the ability of reproduction continues
to decline in generations, there fore the availability of parental cattle should be maintained continuously. This crossbreed had produced
some new breeds, among others Simpo (Simmental x PO), Limpo (Limousin x PO), Simbal (Simmental x Bali cattle), Limbal
(Limousin x Bali cattle), and Madrasin or Limad (Limousin x Madura cattle). Male offsprings were sterile, while female offsprings had
lower reproductive capacity than of the parent’s. This lead to uncertainty over the guarantee of meeting the needs of protein (meat and
milk) of Indonesian in the future, thus there was a need of regulation. On the other hand, in the grasslands of North Australia, the
breeder had produced an eminent cattle breeds, namely Australian Commercial Cattle (ACC), from uncontrolled crossbreeds between
different breedsof taurine and zebu cattle in the pasture, therefore this concerns ignored.
Key words: Crossbreeding, exotic cattle, genetic, local cattle, quality
INTRODUCTION
Cattle raising activities have been widely practiced in
Indonesia since immemorial time. In the era of Hindu
kingdoms, cattle is commonly awarded by kings to the
Brahmin priests as an expression of gratitude, as shown in
some inscriptions, such as the inscription of Muara Kaman,
Kutai, East Kalimantan (4th century AD), the inscription of
Tugu, Jakarta (mid-5thcenturyAD), and the inscription of
Dinaya, Malang, East Java (760 AD). Cattle have long
been used as draught animals in Indonesia. A relief on the
wall of Borobudur temple, Magelang, Central Java (750
AD) showed a pair of zebu cattle (Bos indicus) is being
used for plowing, while in Sukuh, Karanganyar, Central
Java (mid-15th century AD), it is found a relief of cattle
without humps or Bali cattle (Bos javanicus) with a big
bells on the neck (Java: klonengan) as a characteristic of
draught animals (Sutarno and Setyawan 2015). In the
Islamic era, the need for cattle is increasing as the time of
Eid al-Adha celebration by slaughtering livestock.
Moreover, in some areas the fasting of Ramadan and Eid
al-Fitr were also celebrated by consuming livestock, for
example Meugang tradition of Aceh which has been traced
back to Sultan Iskandar Muda (1607-1636), thus
encouraging the development of local Aceh cattle (Yunita
2012).
Cattle are the most important livestock commodities as
a source of milk (dairy cattle), meat and leather (beef
cattle), as well as draught animals. Cattle meet most of the
world's needs for meat (50%), leather (85%) and milk
(95%) (Bappenas 2007; Umar 2009). In Indonesia, demand
for meat and dairy cattle cannot be met from domestic
stockbreeding, which can only fulfill approximately 75%
and 20% of overall need respectively, so that Indonesia
becomes a net importer of both commodities. From year to
year, dependence on imports is increasing and without
significant breakthrough, it is predicted that in the next 10
years the production of cattle in the country is only able to
meet the half of needs. In the last three years (2013, 2014,
2015), before and after Eid al-Fitr is always turmoil in the
B I O D I V E R S I T A S
16 (2): 327-354, October 2015
328
domestic market related to the soaring price of beef cattle,
due to lack of supplies. Demand for beef cattle increased
because of the population growth, improved living
standards, changing consumption patterns, and the presence
of expatriates and foreign tourists who demand beef cattle
with certain quality (DGLS 2010a; Khasrad and Ningrat
2010). The government has taken a long-term policy to
achieve self-sufficiency in beef cattle based on domestic
resources, but the effort is failed though it has been
launched three times, in 2000, 2010, and 2014. The lack of
breed quality, limited pastures and limited cattle feed are
considered as the primary reason for the cause of this
failure (DGLS 2010b; Mahbubi 2014).
This paper aims to review the genetic diversity of local
and exotic cattle in Indonesia, the crossbreeds impact and
conservation effort.
WORLDWIDE CATTLE DOMESTICATION
The domestication of wild banteng (Bos javanicus
javanicus) into Bali cattle, which continue to be the main
cattle in Indonesia until now, is a native of Indonesia's
cultural heritage that should be preserved. The yielding of
Bali cattle shows the potential of Indonesia to be an
independent and sovereign country in terms of food. Cattle
domestication process is mostly done in Europe and Asia
but yields no sustainable offspring, except for only two
species namely taurine cattle (Bos taurus) and zebu cattle
(Bos indicus). Both are descendants of wild aurochs cattle
(Bos primigenius), which is widespread in Asia, Europe,
and North Africa at the end of the last glacial period
(12,000 BP) (Felius et al. 2014). Taurine cattle
domesticated between 10,300-10,800 BP at the border
country of Turkey, Syria and Iraq (Helmer et al. 2005;
Vigne 2011; Bollongino et al. 2012), while the zebu cattle
domesticated in the Indus Valley on the desert edge of
Mehrgarh, Baluchistan, Pakistan around 8000 BP (Ajmone-
Marsan et al. 2010; Chen et al. 2010). Domestication of
species and a long history of migration, selection and
adaptation have created a wide variety of breeds
(Groeneveld et al. 2010). Based on the place of origin of
domestication, the taurine cattle (without the hump) are
sub-tropical cattle, with the main populations in Europe,
North America and Australia. While, the zebu cattle (with
the hump) are tropical cattle, with the largest population in
India, Africa and Brazil. Each species of cattle have had
hundreds of breeds, including the descent of its
crossbreeds.
Bali cattle have been domesticated from wild banteng
since c.a. 5000 BP (Payne and Hodges 1997). Bali cattle
are the most successful domestication of cattle outside
taurine and zebu cattle. When taurine and zebu cattle are
the main world livestock, Bali cattle are the main livestock
in Indonesia. However, the selection process of Bali cattle
is relatively under-developed, that it has relatively same
genetic as a wild banteng. Although, many Bali cattle is
crossed with zebu cattle and, now, with taurine cattle, but
the genetic proportion of its offspring is dominated by the
exotic cattle, so it is no longer classified as Bali cattle,
whilst the Bali cattle is relatively pure (Mohamed et al.
2009), except for Bali cattle in Malaysia which is a mixture
of zebu and banteng with relatively balanced proportion
(Nijman et al. 2003).
Domestication of the other cattle species was also
conducted in Asia (Ho et al. 2008; Achilli et al. 2009). In
Tibet, yak cattle (Bos grunniens) had been domesticated
and able to adapt to high altitudes (Qiu et al. 2012) since
c.a. 4500 BP (Payne and Hodges 1997). Gayal or mithun
cattle (Bos frontalis) had been domesticated from wild gaur
(Bos gaurus) (Uzzaman et al. 2014) on the border of
northeast India, Bangladesh and Myanmar (Mason 1988;
Payne and Hodges 1997). These species of Asia cattle
hybridize with taurine and zebu cattle that are spreading
more widely, resulting mixtures species that give a unique
contribution to the world of livestock resources (Felius et
al. 2014).
INDONESIAN LOCAL CATTLE
Indonesian local cattle has experienced a selection of
various pressures of wet tropical climate, and an adaptation
to low quality of feed, local parasitic and diseases, so it is a
new adaptive phenotypes (Sutarno 2006). Besides Bali
cattle, Indonesia has also several local cattle which are
direct descendants of the Indian zebu cattle, the result of
crossbreeding between zebu and Bali cattle, as well as
crossbreeding with taurine cattle which is introduced latter
(Martojo 2003; Johari et al. 2007). Primary crossbreeds
between zebu or taurine cattle with banteng (or Bali cattle)
produce fertile female and male sterile breeds (Lenstra and
Bradley 1999). The Indonesian local cattle are generally a
hybrid of zebu cattle with Bali cattle. Kikkawa et al. (2003)
and Mohamad et al. (2009) found mtDNA of banteng on
Indonesian zebu cattle, especially Madura cattle (56%) and
Galekan cattle (94%). While Nijman et al. (2003), based on
analysis of mtDNA and other genes, showed that Bali cattle
in Indonesia comes purely from a banteng, while Bali cattle
in Malaysia is a mixture of zebu and banteng.
Some local cattle belonging to zebu group are
Peranakan Ongole (PO) cattle in Java, Pesisir cattle in West
Sumatra, Aceh cattle in Aceh, and Sumba Ongole cattle on
the island of Sumba. India is the center of zebu cattle genes
(Nozawa 1979). Local cattle deriving from crossbreeds
between zebu and Bali cattle includes Madura cattle in
Madura and surroundings, Jabres cattle in Brebes, Rancah
cattle in Ciamis and surroundings, Rambon cattle in
Bondowoso and surroundings and the rare Galekan cattle in
Trenggalek. In Indonesia, there are also local cattle which
are considered as a crossbreed of two exotic cattle, zebu
and taurine, namely Grati cattle in Pasuruan and
surroundings, and now are more commonly known as
Holstein Friesian (FH) Indonesia, which is a cross between
FH male and PO female (Blakely and Bade 1998;
Williamson and Payne 1980; Johari et al. 2007). According
to Sutarno et al. (2015), based on studies of DNA
microsatellites, Madura cattle have most different genetic
characteristics than Bali cattle population (of Lombok and
Sumbawa) and zebu cattle population (Aceh cattle and PO
SUTARNO & SETYAWAN – Genetic diversity of Indonesian cattle
329
cattle).
Bali cattle, PO cattle, and Madura cattle become a
mainstay to meet the needs of meat in Indonesia, while the
Holstein Friesian cattle become a mainstay to meet the
needs of milk (Okumura et al. 2007). Beef cattle population
in Indonesia is currently about 12.3 million (BPS 2014),
and dairy cattle is about 500,000 (DGLSAH 2014). These
cattle consist of Bali cattle (33.73%), PO cattle (23.88%),
Madura cattle (5.16%), and others (13.45%) (DGLS
2010b). The main concentration of the population of cattle
is in Java (45%), Sumatra (22%), Bali and Nusa Tenggara
(13%), Sulawesi (13%), and the rest in other islands (7%).
The population of cattle is slightly decreased after the
financial crisis at the end of 1990s, as many local cattle are
consumed to replace the imported one. The consumption
rate of local cattle exceeds the natural reproduction ability
rate; there is a decrease in the number of calf born in the
following years (Pamungkas et al. 2012).
Local cattle have proved that it can adapt to the local
environment, including feed, water availability, climate and
disease, but it generally has a lower productivity than the
exotic cattle (ILRI 1995). Adapted animals have a
production and reproduction regulating gene which are
superior to environmental stress. Conservation of local
cattle got a lot of challenges, especially since the rise of
improving the calf quality by crossbreeding using frozen
semen of exotic cattle, mainly Simmental and Limousin.
Hybrid offsprings are high favorite for breeders because it
is relatively high in daily weight gaining, although it
requires higher production costs (Sutarno 2006; Sullivan
and Diwyanto 2007). The efforts of crossbreeds are
relatively successful for the same species of cattle, such as
zebu and zebu, or taurine and taurine, but in crossbreeds of
different species, it will produce calves of sterile males and
fertile females with the ability of reproduction decreasing
from generation to generation, thus the breeders must
provide a new breeding male and female from time to time.
The crossbreeding of local cattle with exotic cattle spreads
widely without evaluation, control and ignoring the
importance of local cattle as a unique germplasm. It is
feared that it can lead to erosion of genetic resources
towards extinction. Loss of important genes in cattle that
have been locally adapted to local environmental
conditions would be difficult, or even impossible, to be
replaced. This has happened to many local cattle in India
that have become extinct before it have been identified and
utilized due to the many crossbreeds (Sodhi et al. 2006).
The weakness of cattle development in Indonesia is the
poor quality of cattle genetics, lack of superior bulls, lack
of farmers’ ability in dealing with cattle breeding, and
traditional method of stock raising (Atmakusuma et al.
2014). The development of local cattle is also facing
challenges due to the rise of uncontrolled crossbreeding
especially using artificial insemination methods and the
pressures of other local cattle that are more superior, for
example, the development of Pesisir cattle of West Sumatra
is suppressed by superior Bali cattle. FAO (2000) has
warned that livestock with the risk of extinction are in
developing countries due to the high market demand,
crossbreeding, breeds replacing and mechanization of
farming activities where the use of cattle as draught
animals is decreased (Figure 1).
Bali Cattle
Origin and distribution. Bali cattle (Bos javanicus)
are the result of a direct domestication of wild banteng in
Bali or Blambangan, East Java (MacHugh 1996; Verkaar et
al. 2002; Martojo, 2003, 2012; Hardjosubroto 2004). Bali
cattle spread widely throughout Indonesia, especially in
South Sulawesi, Bali, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa
Tenggara, Southeast Sulawesi and Lampung (Entwistle and
Lindsay 2003; Sutarno 2010). These cattle are major
genotypes in Eastern Indonesia (Pribadi et al. 2014). Bali
cattle is not much raised in Central Java and West Java
where the breeders prefers to raise goats (Capra hircus),
which are an intermediary agent of malignant catarrhal, a
deadly disease in Bali cattle calf. Bali cattle population is
about 4.1 million (DGLS 2010b). These cattle are also
found in northern Australia and Malaysia (Toelihere 2003).
In northern Australia, Bali cattle live in wild as a banteng.
They were from the 20 Bali cattle that were imported from
Bali in 1849, and now the number is around 8,000-10,000
(Bradshaw and Brook 2007). In comparison to Bali cattle,
the genetic purity of these cattle comes near to the genetic
purity of wild banteng in Java, since Bali cattle is allegedly
received genetic mixing of zebu cattle (and now taurine). In
Malaysia, Bali cattle began to be developed on a large scale
and replace the local cattle of Kedah-Kelantan that has low
productivity (Somarny et al. 2015). Bali cattle are the
ancestor of most local cattle breeds in Indonesia. In fact,
PO cattle which were considered as pure zebu cattle also
have a gene introgression of Bali cattle, as well as Pesisir
and Aceh cattle. Cattle that clearly and phenotypically pick
Bali cattle gene are Madura, Rambon, Galekan, Jabres and
Rancah cattle. But these cattle are genetically more close to
the zebu cattle (Mohamed et al. 2009).
Physical characteristics. Bali cattle has similar
physical characteristics to a wild banteng (Handiwirawan
and Subandriyo 2004), but banteng is larger and more
aggressive (Martojo 2003, 2012). The study of genetic
diversity in Bali cattle and banteng is still limited (Kikkawa
et al. 1995, 2003; Namikawa 1981; Nijman et al. 2003;
Verkaar et al. 2003). Bali cattle have a great frame and
solid muscle; adult male can weigh 600-800 kg, while the
female weigh is 500-600 kg (Martojo 2003). At the time of
calf, cattle’s body is brick red or golden red. Meanwhile,
when adult, female cattle remain red brick, while the male
cattle change to blackish at the age of 12-18 months. There
are white on all four legs, from the knee to toes, buttock is
white with clear boundaries and oval with black on tail tip
(Williamson and Payne 1980). They have no humps, a
small wattle and compact body. It has wide head, short, flat
forehead and standing ears. The female horn is short and
small, and the male horn is long and large heading to the
front upper side and taper, with a slender neck. It has deep
chest with powerful legs (Pane 1991; Susilorini 2010).
Advantages and disadvantages. Bali cattle has a very
high reproductive ability, able to give birth every year, able
to adapt to the marginal environment with dry climates,
able to digest low quality of forage for example during the
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