Even as the State government is gearing up to launch the distribution of sheep to Golla Kuruma community shepherds from June 20, officials of the district Animal Husbandry Department are worried over the shortage of fodder and also survival of the sheep due to a possible outbreak of diseases among the animals being purchased and brought from neighbouring states.
Especially in the newly formed Karimnagar district, there is no forest cover for the shepherds to graze their sheep along with the ram given under the scheme.
Already, the shepherds from Mahabubnagar and other districts were heading their flock of sheep to the forests in Mahadevpur and other green areas in Jayashankar-Bhupalapalli district for grazing.
Fodder scarcity
“How can a shepherd graze his sheep when there are no forests where the sheep would get its required quantity of fodder of all varieties of leaves and legumes,” said a veterinary doctor.
Incidentally, there is no provision under the scheme to provide fodder seed for the shepherds to grow and graze their animals.
On the other hand, majority of the beneficiaries, who belong to the traditional sheep herding community, do not have lands to take up cultivation of fodder and solely depend on the forests for grazing their animals, the officials maintained.
Fodder cultivation
Even if the shepherds have farmlands, they would not grow fodder on it and instead would prefer to cultivation of paddy and other crops, which does not provide fodder to the sheep, the officials said.
The officials also complained about the difficulties in grounding the scheme for all the beneficiaries on a single date as there was a shortage of sheep as the shepherds in other states were not selling the sheep in such large lots. The arrival of sheep from neighbouring states such as Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka is likely to cause an outbreak of diseases as it would take time for them to get acclimatised, the officials said expressing their fears.
In Karimnagar district, the authorities have decided to ground 2346 units (each unit consists of 20 sheep and a ram) costing ₹21 crore, they added.
