LOOMING CLIMATE CHANGE AND PROSPECTS OF SWITCHING TO ECO-FRIENDLY ANIMAL POWER

May 23, 2024

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LOOMING CLIMATE CHANGE AND PROSPECTS OF SWITCHING TO ECO-FRIENDLY ANIMAL POWER

India has been an agrarian country for ages and remains largely so even today in spite of industrial and service sector development for some decades. Majority of population still depend on agriculture and allied sectors for their livelihood. It is particularly true in rural India. The farming community accustomed to traditional farming practices use animals especially bullocks and buffaloes for agricultural operation. Camels are used in Rajasthan, and mules and donkeys in certain parts of Haryana as in Hissar district as source of power for various purposes. Farmers with large landholding and means are tilting towards mechanized devices for economic reasons. Thus replacement of animal power by mechanical devices is a parallel outcome. This transformation has led to environmental pollution and Green House Gas Emission (GHGE), hastening global warming and climate change – a matter of great concern. It is not uncommon nowadays to find large and smallholder farmers not interested in maintaining bullocks as a source of power as their maintenance is increasingly becoming expensive in face of diminishing ‘Gochar’ land. The change in farmers’ outlook and behavior is likely to prove harmful as they will be going for higher production and tillage of gross cropping area in tune with demand on food supply for a burgeoning population.

In this backdrop let us have a look at the contribution of our cattle population as a source of drought animal power (DAP). K. L. Phaniraja & H. H. Panchasara of Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fishery Science University, in a review article published in Veterinary World (October, 2009), stated that more than 55% of total cultivated area is still being managed by using draught animals. It was a study of about 15 years ago. The percentage of cultivated area dependent upon DAP might have declined in the meantime. Nevertheless the report said that 83 million of Indian draught animals generated energy in terms of electric power equivalent to 30,000 MW. It is equivalent to 50,000 million units worth Rs. 10,000 crore. According to them (as cited by Singhal, 1999) the bullocks transport 25,000 million ton freight per year saving 6 million ton of diesel worth Rs. 4,000 crore annually. It was further stated that cropping season generally lasts for a total of 60 days and altogether 100 working days in a year which include both for cultivation and transportation. Out of 365 days in a year animal power is utilized for 100 days only and the rest of period the farmer has to maintain the bullocks/buffaloes for no work. However, the average working year for work bullocks would work out to be 15750 million KWH or units. If calculated in terms of present day value it would be a staggering amount.

In another study eight years later Ashulata Netam and Payal Jaiswal of University of Raipur in 2018 observed that India is blessed with over 73 million draught animals which account for 18 million kw of power in agricultural operation like tillage, seedbed preparation, sowing, weeding, and harvesting, threshing and post-harvest operations. According to their study the quantifiable amount of power a draught animal can exert is about one-tenth of its body and the power developed by an average pair of bullock is about 750 watts (about I hp). However, the capacity of draught animals depends mainly on species, breed characteristics, sex, age, temperament and training, nutritional status and most importantly depend upon various types of agricultural equipments used and the placement of harnesses on the body. They further stated that use of improved yoke has made it possible to achieve 16-30% increase in draught capacity. Overall a comparison between the above two studies indicate that there has been a decline of ten million draught animal population over a period of nearly one decade. This is suggestive of the pace of mechanization of farm operation. While seeking the option between mechanical and DAP in order to minimize the dependence on fossil fuel as a source of power and to counter climate change selection of matching and improved designs of agricultural tools and equipments are imperative requirements.

For the knowledge of a layman reader it is prudent to name the types of breed of cattle in India. These are classified as milch breed, dual purpose breed and draught animal breed. Sahiwal, Red Sindhi, Ongole, Gir, Deoni, Tharparkar, Kankrej, Krishna Valley and Haryana breeds etc., are considered as milch breeds. Of them some are also considered as dual purpose breeds. Guzerat, Hallikar, Hissar, and Malvi are named as draught animal breeds. The working capacity of a working bullock would depend upon the breed. For instance Haryana breed bullocks are popular fast working animals for ploughing and transport. Hissar breed is another heavy draught animal breed from Haryana. Ongole breed bullocks from Andhra Pradesh are famed for heavy ploughing and cart work. Nagori breed of Rajasthan is one of the most useful draught animals of India generally employed for road transport. Guzerat and Gir bullocks from Gujarat are well known among the heaviest breeds in India for their excellence as work animals. Odisha does not have any powerful draught breed but Motu breed from Malkangiri district and Ghumsari breed from Ganjam are small sized useful hardy work animals. Motu bullocks can work in hilly terrain under harsh condition. Binjharipuri cattle lately recognized as a milch breed is also used for dual purpose. The males are pretty fast and good as draught animals. As said earlier mechanization of farm operations has considerably reduced the dependence upon DAP, yet in rural areas bullocks still play dominant role. Biogas produced by utilizing cow dung, an excellent source of renewable energy, is helpful in reducing atmospheric carbon load. The digested residue can be used as organic manure. It is an established fact that not much concerted emphasis has yet been given to popularize it in households having few heads of cattle or entrepreneurs engaged in dairy farming as an alternate source of renewable energy. It is particularly true in Odisha. Though cow dung manure and dry cow dung cakes used as fuel are widely in vogue yet their monetary valuation is not available. Bangladesh and Indonesia are ahead of India in utilization of their cattle wealth for draught animal power (DAP) despite being beef eating nations.

Going back to the past, most farmer households having no other alternative than agriculture possessed few heads of cattle and a bullock cart wherever possible for operations beginning from ploughing, tilling, thrashing of crops and transport etc. Though it is not the basic theme of the present narration it is necessary to refresh our mind about other contribution of our cattle wealth. The benedictions of cows, the mother of mankind and progenitor of bovine population, is well known. Cow is the major source of most complete food – the milk – which all of us must have taken during lifetime. Castrated males whom we name as bullocks are the powerhouse of renewable energy, buffaloes included. Hence the cow is revered as ‘Gomata’ or ‘Golaskhmi’ by the Hindus. From a food deficit country, India has emerged as a food surplus country exporting food grains to developing countries in Africa and become the largest producer of milk in the world. Looking back to yesteryears, food grain output was very low at the time of independence in 1947 and the country had to import wheat from the USA under PL 480 Agreement and Australia to tide over hunger. Thanks to the efforts of late Bharat Ratna late M. S. Swaminathan and his co-workers, who revolutionized Indian farming as a whole through ‘Green Revolution’, India could become a food surplus country. The whole of agricultural operations were carried out by animal when mechanized mode was not abundantly available.

Yet hunger persists in poor families. Food being a right to life, governments at the Centre and States are giving free food grains to the people below poverty line. Simultaneously ‘White Revolution’ engineered by late Padma Bibhusan Dr. V. Kurien through milk cooperatives enlivened the life of rural farmers depending on cattle and buffaloes and brought them prosperity. Dr. V. Kurien put India at the top of milk map of the world to make it the largest milk producer from being one time cipher in the field of dairy production. The AMUL brand is now a household name and all state governments have replicated Gujarat model of Dairy Cooperatives. Nandini in Karnataka and OMFED in Odisha are some of them. Indians are now proud to find AMUL penetrating the consumers market of the USA. What an achievement!

With passage of time there has been a great shift in agricultural operations. In the process of intensive cultivation, the age-old dependence on DAP has significantly diminished all over India and the soil fertility too has been adversely affected. We no longer consider proverbial Gomata as harbinger of wealth. If that had been so, cattle would not have been sold to butchers for beef. This apart the compounded woe of carbon load in the atmosphere has increased due to farm mechanization. It has hastened climate change endangering the entire ecosystem. Age-old DAP was eco-friendly in many ways. Farmers used bullocks and buffaloes for ploughing, transportation of crops to the barn and thrashing crops after harvest was very common in all households of large and small farmers. Even bullock carts were used for going from one village to another and ‘melas’ on festive occasions when modern transport was not available. Not very long ago one would find streams of bullock carts loaded with straw and paddy bags coming to Bhubaneswar from adjoining villages. This scene has become a rare sight with introduction of commercial transport using fossil fuel.

Cattle and buffalo have been our trusted lieutenants through thick and thin whether we treated or fed them well or not. They have become somewhat unwanted in modern farming and are gradually replaced by motorized and other mechanical devices for quick economic return and with minimum of human labour. However, they have altogether not become irrelevant despite their population having diminished overtime. Consequently cow dung as an excreta – the main component of organic manure – and cheaply available bio-resource has greatly decreased. Traditionally cow dung had manifold usage. For instance cow dung cake is still being used as fuel in many rural households, cleansing or plastering material for mud built houses and as mosquito repellant. In olden days the house lady in the villages in Odisha used to sprinkle cow dung water in the courtyard before Sun rise. Perhaps it was done with some religious fervor but no longer practiced as the households are gradually becoming urbanized and the mud houses are on way out under Gramin Housing Yojana. Furthermore after removal of a dead body from an Odia Hindu family cow dung water or ‘gobar pani’, as we say in vernacular, used to be customarily sprinkled to sanctify the premises or road nearby. These are customarily Hindu rituals till today. Though this practice of yesteryears may seem orthodox yet it had some scientific reasons and sanitizing effect on the surroundings. Unfortunately some of the practices may have been abandoned as many households in urban areas no longer have a cow or a pair of bullocks as in rural set up. To add up to our past traditions, all farmers usher the onset of agricultural season on the auspicious day of ‘Akhaya Trutiya’ with a pair bullock in the forefront and age-old yoke and plough just behind.

Besides the microorganisms in the cow dung have the natural ability to produce a range of metabolites that increase soil fertility and help in bio-fuel production enabling bio-security. As regards GHG emission there is a misconception that livestock especially beef cattle produce large quantities of GHG that contribute to climate change since enteric fermentation is responsible for 28% of methane emissions. However, a reality check indicates that net effect from livestock is only a 4.5% contribution to GHG. Whatever may be the debate on GHG emissions there exist a relationship between microbes and their ecosystem. Microbes produce carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, the latter being more poisonous, all components of GHG. However, the response of microbes to produce gases that contribute to global warming will depend on the environment they share with human community.

The stark reality is that despite these benedictions and pseudo assumptions, the population of working bovines has reduced from 77.81 to 77.69 million between 1961-62 and 1991-92 registering negative growth of 0.20% per annum. It continues unabated resulting in further reduction of bovine farm power from 41.80 million animal pairs in 1971-72 to 33.98 million pairs in 1996-97, nearly 8 millions in a span of 15 years. The working bullock population may have further decreased since then. Buffaloes are wonderful hardy work animals kept by relatively less prosperous households. Farmers are gradually switching over to mechanization of various farm operations with a reasonable plea that bullocks are uneconomical to maintain with high rise in feeding cost besides rapid loss common grazing ground or ‘Gochar Land’. When we think of life visa-a’-vis viable economic system of yesteryears raising of livestock under pastoral system had great relevance. Gochar as common resource property (CRP) then considered integral for communities or farmers who are either basically agro-farmers or animal farmers has considerably reduced. Consequently, a large number of unwanted cattle, irrespective of age, are sold away to butchers for beef. Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 should be strictly enforced to check clandestine cattle movement from various states to neighbouring Bangladesh or illicit beef marketing. However, sustainability of DAP is dependent upon availability of good number of working animals and a compatible environment. Gochar one of them and critical to their survival and cheap maintenance is vanishing fast in the tempo of urbanization and industrialization. So is the forest land. In a sense we may conclusively say that survival of pasture commons and protection of forests would help the communities to survive so also the pastoral economy critical to check climate change.

In spite of the scenario getting bleak for DAP for farm operations as a whole the age old interaction and relation between animals and humans still remains relevant in certain geographical areas where mechanization is not feasible. For example we may take the hilly terrains of Western and Eastern Ghats and sub-terrain range of the Himalayas in India and also many areas in Latin American, African and Asian countries where agriculture mechanization is not feasible. In Odisha context tribal farmers of Koraput, Gajapati, Kandhamal districts widely practice shifting cultivation on the hills or mountain slopes but being poor cannot switch over to any alternate methods, the handicap being improbability of ploughing sloppy mountain areas by a motorized means. It will be worthwhile to quote from a report of Agricultural Engineering Branch of Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). Quote “Domestic work animal exist in all regions of the world. Animals assist in eliminating poverty, reducing drudgery and creation of wealth. Animal traction is particularly important for food security in smallholder farming systems. Animals can assist directly with crop production (ploughing, planting, and weeding. Food production, distribution and rural trade are also assisted through animal-powered transport (on-farm, marketing, riding, pack transport). Animal power can also be used for water-lifting, milling, logging and land excavation and road construction”. The animals employed are cattle, buffaloes, horses, mules, donkeys and camels. One of the authors (DNM) has seen bullocks and camels being widely used as a source of motive power under Water Wheel Irrigation System (WWIS) in Haryana in the fifties of last century when motorized/electrical power was not available. Persian Water Wheel was the equipment used for lifting water from the wells. Interestingly WWIS is still popular in Punjab and Haryana. However, WWIS is not feasible in Odisha and Southern India as the ground water level is very low unlike Punjab and Haryana. In a visual of a national English TV Channel covering the mood of the voters in current general election scenario, one of the authors (1) found a cart and a tractor moving alongside on a road – one drawn by a buffalo bull (animal power) and the other using fossil fuel. The scene captured may be from either Punjab or Haryana. It is not uncommon to find buffalo bulls being used as work animals in these two states. Besides, one would not be surprised to find a single bullock driven cart on village roads in yesteryears in Haryana Of course scenario has vastly changed since then with farmers becoming more prosperous in many states facilitating them to use motorized power. Regardless of the efficiency of mechanized power it is time to device means to improvise DAP to cater to the demands of modern farming practices in the broader interest to preserve the ecosystem and arrest climate change. It may be pertinent to mention here, the general conditions for use of draught and pack animals under prevention of cruelty to draught and pack animals rule, 1965 that no person shall used or cause to be used any animal for drawing any vehicle or carrying any load-(i) for more than nine hours in a day in the aggregate; (ii) for more than five hours continuous without a break or rest for the animals; (iii) in any area where the temperature exceeds 37 degree centigrade during the period between 12 noon and 3.00 p.m.

If at all we can’t give a check, we shall have to face ‘the only wave the heat wave’ from east to west and north to south as a sequel to climate change. God forbid let there be no occasion for the mankind to be annihilated due to climate change which looks ominous.

1. Dr. D. N. Mohanty