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Introduction
The camel is an important component of Indian fragile desert ecosystem, a proven icon of adaptation with its unique bio-physiological characteristics with formidable ways of living in harsh situations of arid and semi-arid regions. The proverbial Ship of Desert earned its epithet on account of its indispensability as a mode of transportation and draught ability in desert. However, its efficient utilities are subject to continuous social and economic changes. The camel has also played a significant role in civil law and order, defense and battles from the ancient times till date.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, 2008) estimates the total population of camels in the world today to be 22 million, of which 89 per cent are one-humped dromedary (Camelus dromedarius ) camels and the remaining 11 per cent are the two-humped Bactrian (Camelus bactrianus ) generally found in the cold deserts of Asia. In India, the total camels contribute around 0.08 per cent of the livestock population. The total population of camels in the country as per 2012 census is 0.4 million (DAHDF, 2014). Camel population has decreased by 22.48 per cent over the previous census and is distributed mainly in Rajasthan, some parts of Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and few in rest of the states. The camel has many unique qualities to survive and serve under harsh climate and utilize low-quality feed resources, which other species cannot consume. In fact, the camels are the lifeline of rural population in remote villages in the present era also. Traditionally, camel was mainly utilized as a draught animal in agricultural and transport works, but due to mechanization of farm operations and transportation, the use of this animal for this purpose has been reduced drastically. Therefore, to sustain the camel population in these areas, the camel husbandry practices are aimed toward promotion of camel as milch animal.
Camel milk has an important role in human nutrition in the hot and arid regions of the world. This milk contains all the essential nutrients as found in other milk. Fresh and fermented camel milk has been used in different regions in the world including India, Russia and Sudan for human consumption and for treatment of a series of diseases such as dropsy, jaundice, tuberculosis, asthma and...