The head of the library in the village of Ilyich, Gulayim Tursunalieva, shared with a Turmush correspondent information about the hardworking shepherds and milkmaids, as well as about the outstanding elite bulls that became the foundation for breeding offspring.
“I will tell you about the state farm, relying on materials available in our library. The main activity of this farm was sheep breeding,” she noted.
The situation changed in 1937 when active livestock breeding began, involving the crossbreeding of local animals with representatives from other farms in Kyrgyzstan, as well as with breeding animals from the “Karavaevo” state farms in the Kostroma and Smolensk regions. At that time, there arose a need to create a breeding farm.
By the order of the People's Commissariat of State Farms of the USSR, such a farm was organized in September 1937, and the state breeding farm named after Ilyich became one of the leading enterprises in improving the Alatau breed.
The long-term work of livestock breeders, scientists, and specialists in crossbreeding local cows with Swiss bulls led to the creation of high-yield livestock. The long-term breeding of its own breeding stock, proper selection, and improvement of feeding and housing conditions contributed to the emergence of large brown cows. By the decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on December 14, 1950, this breed was officially named “Alatau,” Gulayim Tursunalieva added.
According to her, before the establishment of the breeding state farm, there were ordinary cows here that produced insufficient amounts of milk and meat products. With the creation of the breeding farm, the main work on improving the breeding stock began. Between 1937 and 1940, 200 heads of Swiss cattle were imported from the “Karavaevo” state farm. These animals were descendants of valuable breeding bulls such as Shango 254, Artist 55, Bogatyr 93, and others.
“After that, active crossbreeding of local livestock began with the aim of breeding hybrid animals adapted to mountain conditions,” she noted.
Thus, it was possible to significantly increase the growth rates of both hybrid and purebred livestock. Elite breeding bulls such as Erpun 93, Manezh 340, Khlor 295, Enus, Novy, Polyot, Varnak, Lev, and Boltyka were introduced into the herd; outstanding bulls and cows were obtained from their lines. Cows from the lines of Halva, Mushka, and Rozalin also demonstrated high results in milk production,” G. Tursunalieva added.
