State govt to allocate desi cow varieties to farmers

Mumbai: In line with its cow welfare policy, the state government has now plann-ed to allocate desi varieties of bovines to farmers. There is a growing demand for milk of desi cows, state officials have said.

According to state officials, the state government allocates milch animals under the Sched-uled Caste Sub Plan for the general category, scheduled castes (SCs) and tribals. As a part of this scheme, it was decided to allocate six, four or two milch cows and buffaloes from the year 2015.

Till now, the state government used to allocate foreign varieties like Holstein Friesian (HF) and Jersey cows under the scheme. However, to conserve and increase the number of indigenous breeds of cows, it has been decided to include desi cows too in this scheme.

Varieties like Gir, Sahi-wal, Red Sindhi, Rathi, Tharparkar, Deoni, Lal Kandhari, Gaolao and Dangi cows will be allocated under the scheme.

According to officials, desi varieties have less milk-producing capacity compared to their foreign counterparts.

The HF and Jersey cows have the milk production capacity of 10 to 12 litres per day. Varieties like Gir, Sahiwal, Red Sindhi, Rathi, Tharparkar have the capacity of 8 to 10 litres, whereas Deoni,

Lal Kandhari, Gaolao and Dangi cows have the capacity of 5 to 7 litres per day. “However, the desi varieties of cows are much sturdier and there is a growing demand for milk of desi cows. Hence it has been decided to allocate desi cows to farmers,” said an official from the state animal husbandry department.

The move is a part of the state government’s cow welfare policy, under which beef has been banned.