THE
COW FOR DROUGHT MITIGATION
The cow has all
along been given a very special place in our
society . It may not be out of place to say
that the cow truly represents the cultural nationalism
of our country. According to mythology, the
cow as Kamdhenu appeared as a result of churning
of the Samudra (the sea ). Kamdhenu word symbolises
the one who is capable of fulfilling one’s aspirations
and desires. The cow, being the benefactor
to the human kind, that it is given the place
of mother and is revered as the mother cow.
In our cultural nationalism we have always respected
and worshiped all those symbols of nature
which are life giving or life sustaining.
We have to, therefore , look at cow from this
cultural aspect and not from a narrow vision
of religion, caste, creed or faith. The cow
is above all these and is the protector of humanity.
In our country,
we have a number of indigenous breeds of cow.
These differ in size, shape and colour. Their
milking capabilities are different so
as lactation periods depending on the need of
the geographical areas. In other words, our
cows have great adaptability to the environment
and have evolved as distinctive species to satisfy
needs of each part of the country.
The states of
Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.
are located in meteorological divisions which
are categorized as rain deficient areas. These
areas face year after year drought like situation
due to low precipitation and low soil moisture.
As a result most of these areas have single
crop pattern which is rain fed. There is less
vegetation and less fodder availability . But
it is interesting to note that these areas have
the maximum of cattle wealth . On the other
hand Kerala and North-East have higher precipitation
and are lush green. These areas have plenty
of vegetation and fodder for cattle. But surprisingly
the cattle wealth is lowest. This position
defies the theory and argument of animals husbandry
planners and scientists that the cattle population
beyond a limit can not be maintained because
of the shortage of the fodder. The reason is
simple. The Indian cows do not survive
on these statistics and mechanically worked
out fodder availability. The cow in our villages
is a household concept. They are fed in the
homes. There is a utility concept. What human
do not eat in the kitchen is fed
to the cows. They are also given gur
and chapati as every Indian household
traditionally has been cooking first chapati
for the cow. Then the indigenous breed has tremendous
capacity to adaptability. They graze in the
fields and charagahs with what-so
ever is available and gives milk to the household.
If they eat less they give less milk. The cows
are hunger resistant, heat resistant and thrust
resistant. In nut shell they can live and survive
with little of resources. In the current year’s
drought , I have been told by the people from
Haryana and Rajasthan that this time they have
decided to keep cows and sell buffalos and other
animals because it is only cow which is still
feeding the family though at a reduced scale.
This is where
the role of cows becomes important not only
for drought mitigation but also for drought
proofing. Now let us see what actually
happens in a drought. One, there is shortage
of water and another is loss of livelihood.
Thus the drought threatens the economic and
food security of the household. The poor
and the weaker sections are hit the worst as
they live on day today earnings and can not
sustain a long spell of scarcity. If cow
is in the home, it helps by providing milk which
meets the requirement of water (potable drinking
water is biggest challenge in drought and the
cow by drinking non-potable water meets potable
water needs of human body through the milk)
and nutrition. The milk provides not only
proteins and fats but also is a rich source
of vitamins and minerals. One wonders,
when statistics are given saying that in spite
of drought, the milk production in the area
has gone up. Actually what happens is
that the availability of marketable milk increases
due to financial stress and the gopalk
sells more milk and in the process deprives
his young children, pregnant women and nursing
mothers of the precious source of nutrition
and food security. Therefore, such statistics
should be taken as negative indicator conforming
the greater intensity of drought in the rural
areas. The lesson learnt is that if we have
more cows in the household the food security
is assured and family do not pay in subsequent
years for the life growth under mal-nutrition
conditions.
The other aspect
in drought is crop loss in the field. The present
day agriculture, which is highly mechanized
and is based on chemical fertilizers and pesticides
is at least unsuitable for small and marginal
farmers. In our country 30 percent land holding
is with small and marginal farmers, who own
70 percent of the country’s cattle wealth. Unfortunately,
they are not being taught right economics of
agriculture and cattle rearing. It is a well
known fact that if a small farmer buys goods
and services for agriculture i.e. he pays for
tractor for ploughing, fertilizers, pesticides
and seeds in cash , then really at the end of
the day, he will be left either with no margin
(profit) or very little profit. On the other
hand, if farmer establishes the relationship
between the agriculture and cattle, he not only
saves fertility of his land but also earn
his living on the one hand and food security
and healthy growth of his children on the other
hand. A farmer fully understands that field
vegetation largely meets fodder needs and cow
dung and urine meets field requirements. In
fact agriculture and cattle wealth are complementary
and supplementary to each other and are in separable
in large rural agriculture economics.
It is known
that the chemical fertilizers and pesticides
also require more water to irrigate , otherwise
the heat energy will dry up plants/seeds.
Further excessive presence of chemical fertilizers
is not retained by the soil and is an economic
loss. The harrows in the tractor plough
too deep and reduces drastically the moisture
content of the soil. Therefore, the rain deficient
areas cannot afford such an approach for agriculture
without being at the peril of the farmers. On
the other hand, the cow dung and urine provide
moisture and micro nutrient to the soil. The
soil remains soft and there is a layer of humus
which further helps in retaining moisture and
better seed germination. The excess of
this manure does not harm the plants and is
also retained in the soil.
It may thus be seen
that for sustainable nutrition and agriculture,
cattle wealth is the key contributor and the
cow as representative of cattle wealth can only
act as drought mitigator and drought proofer.
To achieve this, certain issues would also need
to be addressed. One relates to the cropping
pattern. Can we afford shifting of nutritious
course grain crops by water dependent rice and
other carbohydrate crops which has been
the case so far and has added to reduced
fodder availability. The other issue relates
to establishing linkages between agriculture
and animal husbandry to plan a balanced approach
not only between the food-grains requirements
of the country but also the fodder needs of
the cattle. After all food security is not all
about food-grains availability but also nutrient
requirements. The last but not the least, we
have to invest in improving our own breeds which
are a neglected lot.
Mrs
Asha Swami
President,
Love 4 Cow Trust
