Minhota
In the Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês
Conservation status
Other namesGalega
Country of originPortugal
Distributionformer province of Minho, principally Viana do Castelo
Use
Traits
Height
  • Male:
    145 cm[3]: 245 
  • Female:
    140 cm[3]: 245 
  • Cattle
  • Bos (primigenius) taurus
A cow

The Minhota or Galega is a Portuguese breed of cattle. It is reared principally for beef; in the past it was used also as a draught beast and for milk.

History

The Minhota originated in the former Minho province of northern Portugal, from which its name derives, and particularly in the northern part thereof, now the Viana do Castelo District.[3]: 245 

In the past it was variously known as the Minhota or as the Galega, or by both names.[4] It was widespread and numerous; in the middle years of the nineteenth century it numbered about 65 000 head, and constituted some 50% of all cattle in Minho. By 1940 numbers had fallen to about 9500.[5] The breed received formal recognition as the Galega in 1996;[3]: 245  a breed society, the Associação Portuguesa dos Criadores de Bovinos da Raça Minhota, was formed in that year, and a herd-book established in 1997.[6] In 2002 the name of the breed was changed to Minhota so as better to distinguish it from the Spanish Rubia Gallega breed of Galicia immediately to the north.[4]

In 2007 the conservation status of the breed was listed by the FAO as "not at risk".[1]: 92  In 2016 the population was reported to be about 13 000 head, with 120 bulls and over 7000 breeding cows. In 2021 its status was reported to DAD-IS as "at risk".[2] In 2016 it was distributed mainly in the former province of Entre-Douro-e-Minho, the modern districts of Viana do Castelo and Braga; its range extends into the districts of Porto and Vila Real, in the former provinces of Douro Litoral and Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro respectively.[7]

The Minhota is genetically close to the Ramo Grande of the Azores, and may have contributed to the development of the Arouquesa[8]: 289  and the Marinhoa of Portugal[3]: 239  and the Caracu of Brazil.[9]: 170 

Characteristics

Use

The Minhota is reared principally for beef. In the past it was kept also as a draught beast and for its milk.[8]: 281 [10]: 5477 

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Minhota.
  1. 1 2 Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
  2. 1 2 Breed data sheet: Minhota / Portugal (Cattle). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed July 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
  4. 1 2 A Raça Minhota (in Portuguese). Ponte de Lima: Associação Portuguesa dos Criadores de Bovinos da Raça Minhota. Archived 22 March 2016.
  5. ↑ Historial (in Portuguese). Ponte de Lima: Associação Portuguesa dos Criadores de Bovinos da Raça Minhota. Archived 3 March 2016.
  6. ↑ A Associação (in Portuguese). Ponte de Lima: Associação Portuguesa dos Criadores de Bovinos da Raça Minhota. Archived 22 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Distribuição geográfica (in Portuguese). Ponte de Lima: Associação Portuguesa dos Criadores de Bovinos da Raça Minhota. Archived 8 March 2016.
  8. 1 2 Marleen Felius (1995). Cattle Breeds: An Encyclopedia. Doetinchem, Netherlands: Misset. ISBN 9789054390176.
  9. ↑ Julio S. Inglez de Sousa, Aristeu Mendes Peixoto, Francisco Ferraz de Toledo, Klaus Reichardt (1998). Enciclopédia agrícola brasileira: C-D, Volumen 2 (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Editora da Universidade de São Paulo. ISBN 8531404606.
  10. ↑ H.M.M. Ramalho, J. Santos, S. Casal, M.R. Alves, M.B.P.P. Oliveira (2012). Fat-soluble vitamin (A, D, E, and β-carotene) contents from a Portuguese autochthonous cow breed — Minhota. Journal of Dairy Science. 95: (10): 5476–5484. doi:10.3168/jds.2010-3975.
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