Tasty diet is not always nutritious. And the reverse is also true.
These energy bars are delectable as well as nourishing, but they are not available commercially, leaving the milch cattle ‘yearning’ and the farmers clueless.
When the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) initially prepared the ‘Urea Molasses Mineral Block’ (UMMB) on a small scale, it was meant for buffaloes and hence tentatively named as ‘buffalo chocolates’, but today it is the most-liked delicacy for cows, buffaloes, sheep and goat.
The cube-shaped bars are made of molasses (‘bellapu maddi’), urea, mineral mixture, soyabean meal, maida, cement, calcite etc., which gives a salty taste, a welcome diversion for the animals from the ‘insipid’ fodder and cereal mixture. Farmers hang a bar weighing 2 kg from the roof in the middle of the barn, which the animals will lick from time to time. One such bar gives sufficient energy supplement for two to three cattle or 10-15 sheep in a shed a day.
‘A hit among rearers’
B. Devasena, animal nutritionist and professor at Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University’s (SVVU) Livestock Farm Complex, told The Hindu that the SVVU displayed the product at its ‘Kisan Mela’ held recently, which turned out to be a hit among cattle rearers. However, the product is not commercially available.
Since molasses are misused to brew arrack, there is restriction on its sale. Even the sugar cane factories can sell it only with the permission of the Excise Department, which is considered a hindrance in its procurement, Dr. Devasena adds.
The bar is not suitable for calves aged below six months and also for cows that have not eaten for a whole day.
It is up to the entrepreneurial lot among the veterinary graduates to venture into what could be an unexplored, yet highly remunerative domain, to fill the gap, thus ensuring a win-win situation for all the stakeholders.
