GAUSHALA: ITS IMPORTANCE & TIPS FOR SELF SUSTAINABLE STRATEGY
Today i visited to Dhyan foundation cattle rescue centre at Chakulia. I met with Dr Shalini mishra mam, a human doctor from Mumbai who has dedicated her service to safeguard the cattle .She is associated with Dhyan foundation .Here more than 7500 rescue cattle mainly Bulls n some heifer/ Cows which has been rescued by BSF at Bangladesh boarder has been kept for last 3 month.With very limited resources the Dhyan foundation is providing the best possible care to rescue animals.I would like to thanks Dr Shalini for her dedication to animal welfare.There is urgent need of financial support to this rescue centre managed by Dhyan foundation.This rescue centre has been alloted a govt land which was once used as aerodrome during world war 2.The topography of this area is fully covered with forest and tribal population.initially when this place was chosen for keeping the rescued animal, there was huge protest from locals n goons, even employee of the Dhyan foundation got threatening but now, when they saw the dedication n devotion of the Dr Shalini n her whole team,the villagers started helping them.I salute the devotion n dedication of Dr shalini for animal welfare.I have presented the book DAIRY UDHAMITA written by me to Dr shalini.I assured her to help her nobel work at my level best in future.
Cow is revered by more than 70% of the population of our country. Although the cattle population of the country is dominated by indigenous cattle, but the population of crossbred cattle has increased significantly. This poses threat to genetic diversity of our indigenous cattle. There is yet another problem of large number of stray cattle in the country and their number is still increasing. Gaushalas are good alternative to manage the ever-increasing stray cattle population and also to conserve our deteriorating genetic base.
The stray cattle menace has attained alarming proportions and acquired political dimensions in recent years. The population of stray cattle in the country is estimated to be 45-55 lakh. The unwanted males and the infertile, old and infirm female cattle with little alternative utility and no market value to the farmers are abandoned clandestinely by their owners. The problem has worsened with the tightening of the noose around illegal trade and the closure of unauthorised abattoirs, especially in northern and central Indian states.
The Delhi High Court recently ruled that the menace was a violation of the city dwellers’ right to live, guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution. With no proper mechanism for the disposal of these creatures, religious charities came forward and established cow protection shelters — what we today call gaushalas.
Many gaushalas served their purpose fairly well and some of them developed in size and diversified and became institutions in their own right. Some of them got the support of local communities; while many others remained marginalised with scarce resources. In recent times, with the heavy influx of stray cattle, most of these gaushalas are overcrowded, lack sufficient space, monetary, manpower and other facilities/resources for proper upkeep and sustenance of these animals. One such Gaushala is Kolkata pinjarapole society located at Chakulia block in East Singhbhum District of Jharkhand state which is approx 70 km from district headquater i.e Jamshedpur and 120 km from Kolkata.
The Central and state governments are now strengthening the existing gaushalas like this and helping in setting up many more. With gaushalas being animal welfare entities, it is imperative to examine their functioning, resources, endowments and whether they have the potential to turn themselves into self-sustaining centres/institutions.
There is distressing news for the indigenous varieties (which have tremendous genetic importance in terms of resistance to diseases, climatic resilience and acclimatisation capacity to the local conditions) that their nos has decreased drastically in the recent report of 20th animal cencus of India published in last month. Gaushalas have been used to preserve these indigenous animals.
Many states has taken initiatives like the scheme for the establishment of Gau Abhayaranyas, setting up of the Gau Seva Aayog, the Nandi Gram for cattle conservation and promotion, especially male cattle, the scheme for opening Gau Chikitsalyas. There is also a plan to open gaushalas on the jail premises for proper utilisation of space.
Earlier India was not much competent in agriculture sector in the world but the two turning points in Indian history i.e. “Green Revolution” and “White Revolution” have changed the scenario of Indian agriculture significantly over the years. Livestock sector currently contributes 25.8 % to agricultural GDP and 4.5% to country’s GDP (Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, 2018), India. India is having more than half of the cattle of the world. Although the total cattle population is dominated by indigenous cattle with 79% as against 21% crossbred cattle population, but the population of crossbred cattle has increased significantly from 21% in 2012 to 31% in 2018, and those of indigenous cattle has declined from 79% in 2012 to 65 % in 2018 . This situation sounds the alarm as the diverse genetic base of India is becoming narrow which is a threat to sustainability. Indigenous cattle are source of A2 milk and are resistant to harsh weather of the country. One of the main reasons for such a declining trend in the population of indigenous cattle can be considered as abandoning of these cattle once they pass their milking stage and become uneconomical to the farmers. These abandoned cattle are then either seen scrounging in garbage dumps in the cities or will finish up in slaughter houses. But cow slaughter is banned in India due to religious taboos. Furthermore, there are several rules and legislations in India which makes both cow slaughter and sale of beef cognizable and non-bailable offences.
Hence, it is clear that solutions to these problems are complex because of the social taboos and various religious sentiments attached to it. There are several attempts to relax the rules on slaughter ban but the states currently making their bans stricter. Farmers are poor and have fewer options. Thus, there is a need to find alternative way to manage these animals. The solution lies in maintaining the dairies adequately, creating huge Gaushalas with adequate space and funds, at appropriate locations, which can house thousands of such cattle and proper public and government cooperation.
Need of the hour suggests that Gaushalas provide better alternative to manage these poor cattle. Though Gaushala has diverse purposes, its main aim is to provide shelter to stray cattle, improve the health of infirm, unproductive, diseased and abandoned cattle. Along with that, Gaushalas help in conserving the Indian germplasm and cow progeny. Some Gaushalas are involved in upgrading the local breeds and use them to supply plenty of pure indigenous milk & other products prepared particularly from cow dung and cow urine and supply the best female calves to the villagers. But these Gaushalas are facing various problems on several aspects, particularly on economic front due to lack of government support, delays in funding, less space and feed availability etc. Thus, it is important to find economical ways with which they can run and provide shelter to large number of animals on sustainable basis.
SELF SUSTAINABLE MODEL OF GAUSHAL CONCEPT
Indian agriculture has close ties with cow rearing. They complement each other. One nourishes the other. Economic structure of our country depend on cow rearing because here the main source of livelihood of most of the people is agriculture and its premise is bull, which we get from cow. Cow herd is the basis of our economies. Agriculture is impossible without cattle. If in today’s so-called scientific era instead of neat cattle, the farming is done with tractors, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, etc., then it’s awful consequences today is not unknown. If agriculture, land, grain etc. is saved from ruining, then namely natural neat cattle farm based agriculture is essential to re-adopt. Keeping in view of the facts mentioned the cow is assumed as mother. The cow is considered auspicious in our country. It is not unreasonable sense of respect for the cow. Ancient India is joyous and prosperous by serving cow in the form of goshalas. Goshala is a protective shelter for cattle in India. In a goshala, cattle are respected, venerated and treated with dignity. The goshala protects those cows/calves which would have been mercilessly killed otherwise. Goshalas offer you a chance to participate in this ritual to put animal waste to use and purify the environment. Goshalas are maintained by selling different cow based products (milk and milk products, gauarka, panchagavya from cows there by helping the environment. At present goshalas in general are providing shelter to the cows and catering the needs of non-lactating, weak, unproductive and stray cattle with poor management making goshalas unattractive and uneconomical to the rural youth. Improper rearing leads to improper hygiene which in turn leads to grave risk to their health and well being. It is fact that the genetic potential of indigenous cattle is not exploited to the fullest extent due to improper feeding, breeding and management.
If the goshalas are managed with good quality indigenous cow breeds and modern technologies it will contribute not only to quality cow based products, quality males for genetic improvement and conservation of the indigenous cattle breeds, quality agriculture produce but also for creating employment and livelihoods to the rural youth. Skill empowerment of rural youth in cow based farming and providing technical knowhow and inputs at farmer’s door-step will make them to adopt technologies, generate more income and make them fully employed.To make the Gaushala self sustainable
there is need to adopt some strategy and practices like scientific feeding, breeding and management of goshalas and production technologies of cow based products and their marketing so as to make goshalas sustainable, (ii) To promote natural organic farming for improving soil health and quality food production through use of cow based fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides and (iii) to inculcate the sustainable goshala model among the rural youth for employment generation and better livelihood to rural youth in rural areas.
Sustainability of gaushalas
Suggestions:
- At present, Gaushalas are new area of concern. Several Non-governmental organizations or trusts and several Self-Help groups are already working in this area. Their efforts can be supplemented with new governmental schemes.
- Government has been found to be lagging in providing financial assistant to Gaushalas as it was found that meagre grants were provided to the Gaushalas and that too irregularly. The Government funding can be increased by allocating a certain portion of funds in the annual budget to the Gaushalas alone.
- The net income is found negative for various Gaushalas due to higher expenditure on feeding of large number of animals and very low milk production. Hence efforts should be made to provide good quality of feed and fodder at reasonable prices which will help in lowering the expenses of the Gaushalas. It will help in raising the net income of the Gaushalas.
- The Gaushalas can strictly start charging some fees from those farmers who leave their animals in Gaushalas. Gaushalas should diversify their income sources. It can also be commercialized and taken as collective enterprise by making and selling various products like pesticides, insecticides, organic manures and several other products made from milk, cow dung and cow urine.
- The Gaushalas’ infrastructure should be built efficiently so as to accommodate adequate number of animals in Gaushalas. The Gaushalas must have adequate facilities such as veterinary hospitals, ambulance, processing facilities, oil mill etc. Even though in some Gaushalas dung was used to prepare manures and compost, still there is some scope of using it in biogas plants and in electricity generation. Cow urine, dead animals’ skin, hoofs etc can be used to prepare various products or can be sold. These are some ways to diversify the income of the Gaushalas. Efforts should be done to increase the number of productive animals in the Gaushalas as milk was found as an important and basic constituent of income to the Gaushalas. Thus, sustainability can be increased by improving the milk yield of these animals with the help of new technologies, proper breeding practices, better feeding, proper veterinary care etc.
- The less sustainable Gaushalas should learn lessons from high sustainable Gaushalas like Chakulia Gaushala regarding the various activities done by the highly sustainable Gaushalas and low sustainable Gaushalas should follow them. Sustainable Gaushalas can contribute to a large extent in protecting indigenous cow and improve their welfare in the country. The Gaushalas can be run more efficiently by giving professional orientation to them. The Gaushalas can be also be integrated with each other and sell better quality products on commercial basis.
Learning Lessons for Less Sustainable Gaushalas:
First lesson the less sustainable Gaushalas should learn from high sustainable Gaushala is the diversification of activities. The Gaushalas can be sustainable only if it undertakes various activities of product making and selling. It should not depend on donations alone. Gaushalas should undertake proper care of productive animals as they are the important source of income and had a strong and positive relation with sustainability.
Though some less sustainable Gaushalas were preparing different products, but they were not marketing them. So proper market research should be done and Gaushalas should take such activities on commercial basis. The Gaushala labour should be provided requisite manpower training for processing of cow dung and urine.
Income generation:
The report suggested ingenious ways to move revenue generation away from milk to cow products such as dung and urine. Bovine animals, by nature of their digestive tracts, produce large amounts of manure. A cattle facility, with 2,500 animals, produces as much waste as a city with around 4,11,000 people. This waste, including urine may be used to produce a variety of products by gaushalas which may further be used for organic farming and to create zero-cost gaushalas
For example, cost of setting up biogas plant measuring 15 to 20 cubic metre which is a one-time investment is ₹5,00,000 and yearly maintenance cost is ₹50,000. In return, value of electricity generated per year is ₹4,38,000, if the plant is set in a gaushala with 100 cattle.
Similarly, net income per year from fertiliser per 100 cattle for a gaushala will be ₹33,600, while organic pesticide will fetch ₹2,00,490 and floor cleaner manufactured from cow urine will fetch ₹1,25,000.
Alternate revenue models for gaushalas can include cow urine as floor cleaners, compost manure as organic fertilizer, fuel and biogas, paper, dung as building material, insect repellent and disinfectant, the report said.
The indigenous cows are most capable to cope up in the Indian environment in relation to physical and physiological abilities. A Desi cow has ability to produce healthy ( A-2) milk at farmers door based on dry roughages like paddy and wheat straw. She converts such waste materials of crops into milk and manure.
Today, the biggest felon of the soil degradation is the indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The extensive use of chemical fertilizers had led to the depletion of the soil carbon; humus – the organic matter in the soil which is responsible for reduced soil fertility, per hectare yield and quality of farm products. In tropical countries like India, such problem is aggravated by the fact that the soil carbon contains 0.5 per cent against 4.5 per cent in cold countries.
According to an estimate, the cattle shed (Gaushala) manure/cow dung supplies nearly 10 times as much nitrogen and phosphoric acid to the soil as other manures and fertilizers. The amount of cattle dung annually available is 2100 million tonnes, of which 700 million tonnes is used as fuel and 320 million tonnes as manure; the balance is being wasted, if not properly utilized. It is cheaper and the remedy to all soil problems. Research studies have concluded that dung of a cow may give 1,460 tonnes micro-nutrients annually which is sufficient to enrich soil structure and fertility of 14.6 acres. Cow dung has played a major role in organic crop production.
TThe suggested major work to be done for Gaushala Development in India are as follows.
• Establishment of new Gaushals (particularly in jails, schools & temples),
• Provide support for natural breeding of Deshi breeds (Giri, Kankrej and Dangi)
• Offer scholarships on Gaushala research, Gau Vigyan courses in schools/colleges, emphasize on organic farming, Gaushala awareness in tribal areas, microchip for cows, Kamdhenu hostels in urban area, etc
• Organise National and International conferences /seminars and workshops on Gaushala development to discuss the problems and challenges ahead.
• Organise awareness and interaction programmes through cow exhibition, honoring Gaushala workers.
So to run a self sustainable Gaushala ,
the Gujarat Model Gauseva and Kolkata pijarapole society Gaushala, Chakulia should be replicated throughout the country to save the cows and its progenies by making the Gaushalas self-sufficient. Such programmes will not only sustain the indigenous breed of cows but also support the economy of farmers by protecting the environment and ecosystem.
Compiled & Shared by- Team, LITD (Livestock Institute of Training & Development)
Image-Courtesy-Google
Reference-On Request.
