The sleepy little town of Vellakoil became abuzz with activities on Sunday as people not only from Tamil Nadu but also from other States and as far as from the United States of America thronged here to watch the third edition of ‘Kangayam Cattle Show-2013’.
The event, held at Pushpagiri Nagar situated along the Vellakoil-Karur highway, was organised by Senaapathy Kangayam Cattle Research Foundation and Kangayam Cattle Breeders Society.
Objective
“Our objective is to encourage livestock keepers rearing genetically pure Kangayam cattle breed as well to disseminate the salient features of the breed to the public and thereby arrest the dwindling population of Kangayam cattle,” K.S.M.Karthikeya, managing trustee of Senaapathy Cattle Research Foundation, told The Hindu .
A total of 547 livestock keepers from Tirupur, Coimbatore, Karur, Erode and Dindigul districts that fall in ‘Kangayam cattle tract’, exhibited their cattle in the ‘beauty contest’.
Prizes
In all, 21 prizes were given away in eight categories such as ‘Best bull’, ‘Best oxen’, Best white cow and Best black cow.
S. P.Kumarasamy, a participant and a prize winner last year, said that he was coming with his ‘pet’ for the event just for sheer enjoyment derived from the atmosphere shared with a host of breeders.
Among the spectators was Aby Schwarzhans from the United States, who got an opportunity to ‘mingle’ with Kangayam cattle and walk through ‘Korangadu’, a typical grazing area of the breed, during an earlier visit to Kangayam.
“I got impressed by the breed and so came again to have a glimpse of large number of cattle brought from across the tract,” she said.
Similar was the case with young nature activists of CARE, a Chennai-based environment forum comprising students.
The show also had breeders and promoters of other native variety of cattle such as N.V.Balakrishnan.
Mr. Balakrishnan, who is a promoter of Vechur cow, a popular breed in Kerala, came from Kozhikode to know more about the Kangayam cattle from its original tract.
“Breeders of any variety should appreciate other species and try to learn about it so that the usage of the breeds could spread beyond the native tracts,” he pointed out.
