Lenkalapally could pass off as any other village. Around 2,000 people, who live in this village located on the Chandur-Mall road, depend on agriculture. But the commonality ends there.
This village is certainly different because of the villagers’ passion for rearing bulls. The impact of mechanisation on farming might have reduced the use of bulls, but in this village, they continue to depend on them even now. Almost every family owns a pair of oxen and they do take pride in rearing them.
Paka Satyanarayana, a villager, vouchsafes the efficacy of using bulls in farming activity instead of mechanised tools. When the land is ploughed using the tools mechanically, it will be difficult to remove weeds, but when bullocks are engaged, weeds would be destroyed. In addition to this, bullocks are useful in many agricultural activities. The USP of the local breed is, they not only look healthy but are extremely useful in work.
Trendsetters Farmers say they compete with each other in looking after the bovines and also train them in different works. The bulls are taken care of in such a way that even those unfamiliar with agriculture can find the difference between the Lenkalapally bulls and cattle in other villages.
The farmers those who wanted to purchase oxen from nearby villages never miss visiting this village before choosing a pair, because they strongly believe that the Lenkalapally oxen are better. A pair of Lenkalapally ox would cost anywhere between Rs. 80,000 and Rs. 1.4 lakh.
Drawing inspiration from this village, farmers of neighbouring Mallaipalle, Pasunur, Nallabelli and Sallaonikunta villages have begun taking interest in rearing cattle.
Sarpanch of Lenkalapally, Patha Nagesh, feels that the government should select their village as model for local breed of oxen conservation and make them part of local breed animal conservation in the State by funding as their numbers have been fast dwindling.
