International
Seminar on Cow and Bio-diversity (Sustainable
Nutrition and Rural Development) at RCVP Naronha
Administration Academy, Arera Colony, Bhopal
(Madhya Pradesh) on 21st and 22nd
January, 2003
SUMMARY
RECOMMENDATIONS
Love 4 Cow Trust, a registered public charitable
trust has organized a two-day International
Seminar on Cow and Bio-diversity at RCVP
Naronha Administrative Academy, Arera Colony,
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) on 21st and
22nd January, 2003 with focus on
Sustainable Nutrition and Rural Development.
The objective was to reactivate the integrated
cycle of cow for sustainable nutrition, sustainable
agriculture and rural development. The
theme was that development of cattle wealth
was an essential component for overall rural
development.
Shri Digvijay Singh, Hon’ble Chief Minister,
Madhya Pradesh was the Chief Guest. Shri Som
Pal, Hon’ble Member, Planning Commission and
Member, XII Finance Commission delivered the
key note address. The Seminar was presided
by Shri Shiv Narayan Meena, Minister of State
(independent Charge) for Animal Husbandry, Madhya
Praesh. Shri Mahendra Bam, Chairman, Gosewa
Ayog, Madhya Pradesh, Shri K.S. Sharma, Deputy
Chairman, State Planning Commission and Smt.
Kiran Vijay Singh, Director Genral, Administration
Academy, Bhopal were Guests of Honour.
Mrs.
Asha Swami, President, Love4Cow Trust read the
welcome address. Shri S.C. Tripathi, IPS
(Retd) Patron for Love4Cow Trust, Madhya Pradaesh
presented the vote of thanks. The valedictory
session was addressed by Shri D.R. Bhagat, Principal
Secretary, Animal Husbandry, Government of Madhya
Pradesh. The Speakers who presented their
papers in the Seminar were:
Organic Farming – Xth Plan Initiatives – Dr.
Vandana Dwivedi, Deputy Commissioner, Ministry
of Agriculture, GOI; Gopalan and Organic Agriculture
– Dr. G.S. Kaushal, Director, Agriculture, Government
of Madhya Pradesh; Cow – An Indian perspective
– Padmashree T.G.K. Menon, expert on Bio-dynamics,
Indore; Agnihotra for sustainable agriculture
– Ms Karina Heschl, Austria; Homa Therapy based
on heeling fires of Ayurveda for - Mr Bruce
Johnson, an expert on environment protection
from Australia; Cow for marginal farmers – Dr.
Chandra Shekhar Nautiyal, Head, Micro-Biology
Division, National Botanical Research Institute,
Lucknow, GOI; Bio-Energy for Rural Development
– Shri Padam Singh, Regional Administrator,
Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy, GOI; Gopalan
for livelihood – Shri Mukesh Gupta, MR Morarka-GDC,
Rural Research Foundation, Jaipur; Bioactivities
of Cow Urine – Shri Sunil Mansinghka, Go-vigyan
Anusandhan Kendra, Nagpur; Power generation
from cow dung – Shri V.P. Gupta, Director, Department
of Energy, Government of Madhya Pradesh; Cow
milk protection and availability – Shri R.R.
Singh, General Manager, Madhya Pradesh Milk
Federation; Breeds and medical care of cows
– Dr. Khan, Government of Madhya Pradesh; and
Cow – A symbol of cultural nationalism – Shri
Hukam Chand Sawla, Mahamantri, All India Goraksha
Smiti.
Shri
Vinod Semwal, Secretary, Animal Husbandry, Shri
S.C. Prajapati, Secretary, Goseva, Madhya Pradesh
and other officers from different departments
of the Government of Madhya Pradesh were present.
The Seminar was also attended by the Members/Representatives
of the National Commission on Cattle, Animal
Welfare Board of India, Vetenarians, Goshalas,
Gayatri Parivar, local NGOs and the cow lovers.
Welcome
request
Mrs. Asha Swami, President, Love4Cow Trust in
her welcome address, made the following request:-
i) a separate Ministry for Godhan Vikas may
be formed to reactivate the integrated cycle
of cow for rural development; ii) Gosewa Ayog,
Madhya Pradesh be strengthened by providing
them funds to the tune of Rs.5 crore; iii) Cow
milk be made available by the Milk Federation
of the Government.
Policy
Directions
Hon’ble Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh in his
inaugural address said that – i) The concept
of Dry Dairy be enlarged to make non-milching
govansh economically viable; ii) If the Central
Government supports partly, the State Government
will procure and keep all stray cattle in goshalas/gosadans;
iii) The State Government favours total ban
on cow slaughter; iv) As govansh is now economically
viable even if not giving milk, there was need
for review of the earlier Supreme Court decision
allowing govansh slaughter beyond the specified
age; v) The budgetary allocation of Goseva Ayog,Madhya
Pradesh was increased from an amount of Rs.
70 lakhs to Rs. 5 crore.
Shri Som Pal, Hon’ble Member, Planning Commission
addressed on the necessity of – a) Saving the
indigenous breeds of cow from extinction and
reviving the pure descript breeds; b) To take
up breeding of indigenous bulls on massive scale
for revival and survival of indigenous breeds;
c) Increased use of organic farming ( cow dung
agriculture) for maintaining fertility of the
soil and sustainability of the agriculture,
d) Revival of Rishi Kheti (Agnihotra and Bio-dynamics)
for nutritious produce and clean environment.
The monographs titled “The Economics of Cow”
compiled by Love4Cow Trust and “Gosewa -Goupasana”
containing views of Mahatma Gandhi and Vinoba
Bhave compiled by Go Vigyan Bharati, Mumbai
were released on the occasion.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Dry
Dairy project concept: The dry dairy
project concept was the favourite of the
Seminar. Almost all Speakers suggested
that there was a necessity to enlarge and implement
the Dry Dairy project for non-milching govansh
which will make them economically viable
by using the cow dung and cow urine. The
cow dung and urine could be used to produce
different types of bio-fertilisers. Similarly,
bio activity of cow urine is to be utilised
for medicinal use as also for plant growth and
plant protection. These activities will
result in value addition. The project
could be further expanded to include gober gas
plants and generation of electricity for captive
use. There is also demand for Panchgavya
products such as soap, face pack, dhoopbatti,
agarbatti, phenyl and like. Therefore
an integrated Dry Dairy project would not only
cover the cost but also provide reasonable profits.
This will be an important step for making goshalas/gosadans
economically viable and sustainable. It
was, therefore, recommended that the Dry Dairy
project needs to be enlarged and implemented
supported by Governments and financial institutions.
Self-help
Groups: It was the view in the seminar
that gopalan offers possibilities for employment
generation on a large scale. As such,
Self Help Groups (SHGs) in the rural areas can
be encouraged to take up gopalan under different
schemes of rural development including Swaran
jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY).
The SHGs could either market the milk and other
products on their own or alternatively may be
provided support through the Gosewa Ayogs of
the States or the Khadi Gram Udyog Boards.
Gopalan is an ideal opportunity for landless
labour and handloom and handicraft artisans.
As gopalan is not a full time activity, this
will supplement the incomes of these groups
and ensure their economic and food security.
This will also help in the survival of the traditional
knowledge of these groups. Gopalan will
also contribute to social equality. It
was felt that Gopalan should be encouraged and
promoted as one of the solutions to tackle unemployment
and falling incomes in the rural areas.
Rural
Development (Gau Gram): Another
dimension of gopalan was through community or
cooperative effort. The SHGs or individuals
through cooperative or community efforts can
take up gopalan and implement the Dry Dairy
project in the villages. Such of the villages
which opt for such a cooperative effort will
have their own electricity generation, bio-gas
as fuel and at the same time, will maintain
fertility of the soil. Such of the villages
will also opt for organic farming and will get
better prices for their produce. The seminar
felt that the Gau Gram projects need to be run
as demonstrative projects at least one under
each Panchyat Samiti. The Gau Gram concept
offers a model village which is self-sustainable
and makes village the hub of activities and
help check migration to urban centers.
Sustainable
Nutrition: Concerns were expressed about
the falling nutrition levels of people in the
rural areas particularly the young children,
the pregnant women and nursing mothers.
It was felt that supplementary nutrition programme
based on vitamin doses was neither desirable
nor a sustainable proposition. The administrative
cost of such programmes was also very high.
Further, the food security concept was not limited
only to availability of foodgrains but a nutritious
balanced diet. This gap could be met only
through the availability of cow milk which is
a sustainable, healthy nutritious food for people
of all age. Therefore, gopalan will
not only help in providing employment opportunities
and rural development but will also contribute
to sustainable nutrition in the villages and
take care of mal-nutrition which is setting
in slowly in the rural areas and the consequences
of which need no mention.
Conservation
of indigenous breeds: In India there are
32 breeds of indigenous cow. However,
over a period of time one by one, these breeds
are virtually extinct and today it is very difficult
to find out pure and a descriptive indigenous
breed. The crossbreed programme has been
the major factor for this situation. The
crossbreed programme has not been very successful
and has led to the production of govansh which
is neither here nor there. It was felt
that the indigenous breeds have evolved over
a period of time in different parts of the country
depending upon the topography, the climate and
the requirements. The indigenous breeds
have adaptability to live and sustain in
all kinds of situations and, therefore, it was
necessary to conserve the indigenous breeds
for sustainability of the cattle wealth. There
was demand for full Census of Govansh which
had earlier been done in the year 1992 There
was also need to carry out research on the qualities
of different varieties of indigenous breeds
and within the same breed depending upon their
colour etc. to which a mention has been made
in Charak Sanhita and Ayurveda.
Bull
breeding project: In the context of conservation
of indigenous breeds of cow, the need was felt
for breeding indigenous bulls in a mission mode
on a massive scale failing which the conservation
of indigenous breed will become impossible.
It was also felt that the bull breeding and
conservation of indigenous breed cow was inter-related
and, therefore, the joint programme could be
launched in the goshalas. The Government
should come out to help in this regard and initiate
projects at its own level both at the Centre
and the States and also support goshalas/NGOs.
Rishi
kheti: The traditional Indian agriculture
has been self-sustaining. However, the
mechanization in agriculture coupled with the
use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides,
today poses a perceptible threat to the
sustainability of agriculture production and
productivity in the near future. The Governments
have already recognized this fact and there
is already emphasis on organic farming.
In fact, organic farming is no different from
the gobar kheti or Rishi kheti.
This is only a new term coined for
