A Kankrej bull, as tall as an average Indian man and far bigger than the bulls one is used to see, which was repeatedly attempting to break free and frequently trying to gore the air around it, was the main attraction at the Krishi Utsav (agriculture fest) that began here on Saturday.
The bull is a Gujarati breed and is on display at Mangalore University, which has jointly organised the utsav with Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala Grama Abhivriddhi Yojane and others.
The four-year-old bull, originally brought for a place of worship, is presently the prized possession of Sudarshan Rao, a priest, who uses it for cross-breeding. “It is nice to look at. It has long ears and a greatly shaped hump,” he says with a bright sparkle in his eyes. Already, four calves are born from it and when they grow into cows, they are expected to produce 10-15 litres of milk a day.
Many farmers spoke to Mr. Rao to know how they could own a Kankrej cow. He said they could bring their cows to his place in Konaje for cross breeding. “It looks so awesome. I wish I owned one,” said Narayana of Naringana, who loves the shape of the its throat folds. “It is so beautiful,” he couldn’t stop gushing.
Karyappa P.S., another farmer from Subrahmanya said since this was an indigenous Indian breed, it was resistant to diseases and ideal for dairy farmers, unlike Jersey or Holstein breeds.
Though the bull seemed agitated and tried to gore at passersby, Mr. Rao insisted it was not harmful and had not injured anyone so far — it was only agitated because of the crowd.
He feeds it with a mixture of different cattle feed, green and dry husk, keeping in mind that its energy intake must be regulated. A couple of Gir bulls were also on display.
