Ongole Zebu Cattle Breed Prakasam Nellore Andhra Pradesh World

The Ongole breed of zebu cattle originating from Prakasam and Nellore districts of Andhra Pradesh is the world's pre-eminent tropical beef breed, with exported foundation bulls forming the core of Brazilian Nelore cattle (over 80% of Brazil's 220-million-head herd), the US Brahman composite, and the Australian Droughtmaster development programmes. The breed is characterised by a prominent thoracic hump (indicating Bos indicus descent), pendulous skin dewlap, large drooping ears, and grey-to-white coat, with mature bulls reaching 700-900 kg under traditional stall feeding on groundnut cake, sorghum silage, and Andhra field stubble. Prakasam and Nellore farmers maintaining purebred Ongole stock register animals through the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources at Karnal for DNA-authenticated breed certification. Ongole breeding bull auctions at Chirala and Nellore weekly markets attract Brazilian and US breed importers annually for foundation stock. Declining purebred Ongole numbers in Andhra Pradesh are being countered by Andaman and Nicobar Islands germ plasm conservation farms and NDDB-supported AI semen distribution programmes that protect this globally significant breed from genetic erosion.