Till five to six years ago, yak rearing was gradually becoming the last thing that young men from the Monpa community in the Kameng region of western Arunachal Pradesh were interested in. And there were reasons for this. Besides being an expensive activity with diminishing returns, climate change was also pushing the animals up to higher ranges. As a result, the number of Brokpas — as the traditional semi-nomadic yak herders in the upper reaches of the Eastern Himalayas in Arunachal Pradesh are called in the local language — in the Tawang and West Kameng districts, too, fell from over 800 about 15-20 years ago to a little over 200 now. But things are gradually changing for good, courtesy the National Research Centre on Yak (NRC-Y), an institute established by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR). The Brokpas are now being encouraged to adopt scientific methods of yak rearing, which promises to bring them better returns. “Young Brokpas were giving up the profession and becoming jobless because of poor returns from the yaks. We have taken up a programme to give them tips on how to rear yaks in a scientific manner. We have also imparted training on product diversification so that they can earn more from the same yaks,” says Dr K K Baruah, Director of the NRC-Y, which is located at Dirang, at an altitude of 1,500 metres from the sea level, in West Kameng district. The series of training programmes organised by the NRC-Y has so far taken under its fold over 120 Brokpas and 60-odd dairy farmers from the two high-altitude districts and imparted them basic knowledge on various aspects of disease management, scientific dairy farming, reproductive health management, and scientific husbandry practices for high-altitude animals. “Our scientists have also given them valuable tips on first aid and healthcare for yaks and their handlers during migration,” adds Baruah. Interestingly, though lack of scientific rearing and gradual climate change have impacted upon the behaviour and habitat of this high-altitude animal, Arunachal Pradesh has registered a rise in its yak population in the recent years. “But what has been of concern for us is the health and poor produce of the animals, both emanating from a lack of awareness about scientific methods of rearing cattle among the Brokpas as well as the community as a whole,” says Baruah, justifying the NRC-Y intervention. “While the yaks can thrive in conditions of extreme climatic harshness and deprivation while providing livelihood for hundreds of highlander families in the Eastern Himalayas, our focus has been on the rearers too, keeping in mind the fact that most of them lead a poor semi-nomadic pastoralist life. One cannot believe how they survive while maintaining their yaks in a transhumance system,” says Baruah. The NRC-Y, in collaboration with the state’s veterinary and animal husbandry department, also provides tents, first-aid kits and medicines to the Brokpas in order to protect them and their herd from adverse climatic conditions when they travel from mid to high altitude and vice versa. A multi-purpose animal Yak (Poephagus grunniens L), a hairy bovine that lives in snow-covered high-altitude regions of India, Bhutan, China, Mongolia and some other parts of central Asia, is a multi-purpose animal. It provides milk, meat, fibre, hide as well as dung. The yak is also used as a pack animal for transportation of household goods and for riding. Of late, the Indian Army too has started experimenting on whether the yak can replace mules as a pack animal in the snow-clad high-altitude Kameng sector on the international border with China. The NRC-Y at Dirang has since its inception in 1989 carried out extensive surveys on genetic resources, management practices, production and other aspects of yak. Scientists have concluded that genetic characterisation of yaks for morphological and productive traits have indicated high genetic variability in production as well as reproduction. “Our scientists have already identified five types of yaks on the basis of their phenotypic characteristics and isolated family-wise DNA. We have also carried out selective breeding to improve their performance, while a calf has born for the first time in the world through embryo transfer technology,” says NRC-Y Director Dr K K Baruah. Dr M K Ghosh, a scientist at the NRC-Y, has developed an area-specific mineral formulation for feeding yaks, which in turn is expected to improve the health as well as milk output of the yaks. Feed blocks prepared by the NRC-Y by using maize stover, concentrate mixture and molasses have already become popular among the Brokpas. Dr Kandeepan G, another scientist, has meanwhile developed functional paneer from yak milk, while carpets, doormats and wall hangings made of yak hair fibre blended with sheep wool and angora rabbit wool have also become popular in the local market.