The Cattle Care Centre in Koduvalli near Red Hills here is a hostel of sorts for over 60 milch buffaloes belonging to farmers from three nearby villages.
The Centre has been launched on an experimental basis to provide round-the-clock veterinary care, nutritious feed and a hygienic milking environment, all under one roof.
Though the centre of the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS), which is functioning on campus of the College of Food and Dairy Technology in Koduvalli, was proposed two years ago, it was only last year the TANUVAS completed a hygienic shed for milking the animals.
R. Prabakaran, Vice-Chancellor, TANUVAS, says the centre was launched to provide space for farmers to engage in hygienic milk production. “It is an eco-friendly place, where all the waste is completely recycled and reused.”
Cattle owners leave their cattle at the centre. They are released to graze during the day.
One of the major advantages at the Centre is the availability of medical attention for cattle round-the-clock. This helps in early diagnosis of any disease. The Centre has a five-acre plot exclusively for raising fodder for the cattle.
The fodder is raised organically in the plot, using the urine and the dung of the cattle. The remaining quantity of the dung is used for producing bio-gas, which is used in the hostel kitchen. The centre has also taken up vermicomposting, Dr Prabakaran says.
The collected milk is bought by the college for its dairy plant and the farmers are paid Rs. 30 per litre for the milk. Every day, nearly 125 litres of milk is procured at the Centre, the Vice-Chancellor adds.
V. Parthiban, a cattle owner who left 60 of his cattle at the Centre, says: “The centre is very useful to us, where the animals get free medical attention as well as fodder. Moreover, the milking is done in a hygienic atmosphere. It will be difficult to get all these facilities under one roof.”
According to Dr. Prabakaran, the Centre caters to three villages in and around Koduvalli. Apart from helping in hygienic milk production, the veterinarians at the centre identify the contagious disease in the cattle and attend to it before it spreads to other animals. It is a model centre, which can be replicated without any problem. The university is planning to send a proposal to the government to start similar centres in other parts of the State, he adds.
