Farmers make a beeline to the Kangayam Cattle Research Station, run by the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS), in Sathyamangalam early every morning. The purpose of the visit is to buy some high-quality cow urine, cow dung and milk.
“Farmers involved in floriculture in Sathyamangalam are using the urine and they tell us that the yield has increased,” said A.V. Omprakash, Director Centre for Animal Production Studies, explaining that native breeds should be approached as a multi-purpose economic model than depend on them for just milk produce.
There are 50 animals in the research station and every day it sells 300 litres of urine, at ₹ 1 a litre.
“Farmers mix the urine with the water used for drip irrigation instead of chemicals to remove the clog. Moreover, the urine fulfils the nitrogen requirement of plants,” said Dr Omprakash.
There is a also a heavy demand for dung — both wet and dry — and the research station has started commercially producing panchakavya , which can be used for drip irrigation and as an insecticide.
Before the advent of mechanisation in the agriculture sector, cattle remained the mainstay of farmers and sustained their lives. They were used for ploughing and pulling carts and their dung and urine used as manure while milk nourished children and adults alike. But mechanisation of agricultural practices almost rendered native cows and bulls irrelevant. What further aggravated the situation for the native breeds is introduction of high-yielding breeds of cattle through artificial insemination programme.
According to a breed survey in 2013 the population size of Kangayam cattle was 80,000. A survey in 2007 found that the Bargur cattle population had come down to 2,529. As per the 2013 survey, there were around 21,000 Pulikulam cattle.
Sensing the need to step in, Tanuvas and the Tamil Nadu government launched programmes to protect five native breeds of cattle — Kangayam, Umblachery, Pulikulam, Alambadi and Bargur. The Centre also recently unveiled a programme to research on indigenous breeds.
“Local breeds or native cattle kept as herds and moving from one place to another in search of pasture escape being bred artificially with the semen of other exotic breeds. We have already collected sperm cells (semen) of these native breeds and preserved them as a conservation measure,” said Dr. Om Prakash. While the revival of interest in jallikattu in recent years has offered a new lease of life to Pulikulam and Kangayam breeds, other breeds are not so fortunate, since their milk yield is too low to be maintained for dairy.
“Fortunately, we found some native breeds of cattle yielding considerable amount of milk and it is high time to tap their potential through selective breeding and scientific management,” said SMK Karthickeyan, professor and head of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Madras Veterinary College.
