CROSSBRED COWS : A SOURCE OF LIVELIHOOD
IN SEMI-ARID REGIONS OF RAJASTHAN
Dr. N.G. Hegde
Iras is a small village in Asind tehsil of Bhilwara district in Rajasthan. Although the
village is located about 25 km away from Bhilwara, a town dominated by the textile
industry, there are hardly any traces of non-farm activities in the villages around Iras.
Like other villages, the rural community is dominated by the poor and backward
families. While the youth from the upper castes migrate to cities, the members of the
weaker sections of the society continue to struggle in the village for survival due to
lack of initiatives and outside contacts. Subjected to severe vagaries of nature, they
are compelled to invent new means for their food security. A programme promoted by
the District Rural Development Authority (DRDA) has turned out to be a blessing in
disguise for them.
In 1996, the DRDA of Bhilwara invited Rajasthan Rural Institute for Development
Management Agency (RRIDMA) a voluntary organisation, promoted by the BAIF
Development Research Foundation, Urulikanchan to establish a cattle development
centre at Iras. This programme, financed by the Government of India, under the
Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) introduced breeding services for
cattle and buffaloes, at the doorsteps of the farmers in 12-15 villages within a radius
of 10-12 km around Iras. RRIDMA posted Gopal Lal Mali, a local youth who was
trained in livestock breeding and dairy husbandry and also provided a motorcycle and
a set of cryogenic containers to store and transport frozen semen. One container
stored liquid nitrogen, the other stored the stock of frozen semen sent from
Urulikanchan and a small container was mounted on a motor cycle to carry the semen
to inseminate the animals. Gopal Lal with 4-5 years of field experience with BAIF,
initially organised farmers’ meeting at every village and visited every hamlet to
educate the villagers particularly the women as to how to detect heat in cows and
buffaloes. He motivated the villagers to avail the breeding services and to improve
the productivity of their animals through better feeding, management and health care
practices. Indeed the initial task of creating awareness turned out to be easy for Gopal
Lal, as many farmers were aware of the cattle development programme launched by
BAIF in adjoining Raila block, way back in 1986.
The BAIF cattle development programme at Iras, covered a cattle and buffalo
population of 5000 heads owned by 1972 families, of which 590 were poor. So far,
1293 families, have taken benefit of the programme, of which 421 are poor. Over the
last five years, 5700 inseminations have been carried out and 900 female calves have
been born. Presently, 450 cows are under milk production in Iras cluster, yielding 10
to 24 litres of milk per day. About 3500 kg milk is produced every day of which 2500
litres are sold to the local dairy cooperative at Rs.8 per kg.
Apart from the cows under milk production, many farmers have sold their crossbred
cows bred at home to outsiders. Indeed many traders visit these villages and offer
remunerative prices ranging from Rs.15,000 to Rs. 30,000 per cow. While many of
them are reluctant, some of them are tempted to sell, either due to financial
commitments or forage scarcity arising due to continuous drought over the last three
years. So far, over 360 cows have been sold from this centre, releasing about Rs.7.60
lakhs.
The most surprising aspect of this programme is the response from the poor. Most of
the crossbreds were very healthy, right from birth. The credit for such healthy animals
goes to another scheme sponsored by the DRDA, which provided concentrate at a
subsidised cost to all the poor families owning female crossbred calves, from the age
of four months upto 28 months or till the calf matured and came into milk production.
Today, DRDA has no funds to continue this scheme but the farmers continue to feed
their calves well. As a result, most of the heifers are ready to conceive at the age of 15
months. They calve regularly at an interval of 13-14 months, with a lactation at yield
of 3000-3500 kg in 300 days. They have to be given rest for 2 months before the next
calving. At this stage of advanced pregnancy, some of the cows yield about 5-6 kg
milk and hence require medication to compulsorily dry the milk.
Earlier in 1984, when BAIF started the cattle development centres in Bhilwara
district, each farmer informing about the cow in heat was rewarded Rs.2, as an
incentive. Now the situation has changed. BAIF is now collecting Rs.25 per
insemination from the animal owner and so far no one has shown reluctance to pay
this fee. This system of collecting service charge has boosted the morale of the
farmers. They feel proud of their economic independence. They have also become
alert and call the Extension Officer to inseminate at an appointed time to avoid
failure. The amount collected from the farmers is deposited in the Government
treasury and BAIF receives an annual service charge of Rs.1.25 lakhs to cover the
entire cost of operating a cattle development centre. The Programme Review
Committee consisting of the representatives of BAIF DRDA, Animal Husbandry
Department and Dairy Federation meet regularly to review the progress and service
charges based on the actual cost of operation.
Considering the direct benefit accrued by the dairy farmers which amounts to about
Rs. 105 lakhs and about Rs.2.5 to 4.0 lakhs from sale of cows per annum, the
programme has a very high return on investment. A family maintaining two crossbred
cows can come out of poverty. The impact of the programme was more revealing
during the last three years of extended drought. While most of the livestock were
sold, the crossbred owners took special care to feed their precious animals with good
quality concentrate, procured through the dairy cooperative. Indeed crossbreds have
now turned out to be the main source of livelihood for the villagers in these villages.
They have found a suitable solution for their survival, which could not be assured
through other land based activities. Breed improvement in buffaloes has also been
introduced by BAIF, by breeding local buffaloes with Murrah bull semen. The new
improved buffaloes have started yielding up to 10 kg milk per day, as compared to
their mother’s yield of 2-3 kg.
Till 70s, agriculture was the main source of livelihood. Cotton was the main crop.
With frequent failures, farmers have gradually shifted to sorghum, maize, sesamum
(Til), black gram (Urad), wheat, groundnut, etc., which are low risk crops. Earlier the
farmers had local cows and buffaloes which yielded 1.5 to 2.0 kg milk. Now dairy
husbandry has turned out to be the main bread winner. Be it wheat, maize or
sorghum, the return from agriculture has now become insignificant. Nevertheless,
wheat being the staple food crop and major source of roughage for cattle feed, it is
preferred over the other two crops.
Success begets Success
With good quality crossbred cows, farmers have stopped letting them out for free
grazing. This has helped in increased collection of dung. This was an opportunity for
BAIF to promote biogas plants. With the support from DRDA, 39 families in Iras
village have constructed ‘Deena Bandhu’ biogas plant. The estimated cost per plant of
2 cubic meters was Rs.7000. Rs.2700 was granted by DRDA for procuring inputs
like bricks, cement, pipe and wages for the mason, while the other cost in the form of
physical labour for digging pit and collection of sand were met by the beneficiaries.
All these plants are in operation and have provided great relief to the women. BAIF
provided skilled masons and regular supervision which were critical inputs for the
success. Of course, proper selection of beneficiaries and motivation for their active
participation were equally important.
Sushila, a 12 year old girl who looks after two cows was very happy to mention that
these cows were able to feed the family after the death of her father. Yes, regrettably,
she had to discontinue school, as there was no one to look after the cows but her
mother assured us that she will send her to attend the adult classes, recently started by
the local self help group of women, promoted by BAIF. With revival of their
economy through dairy husbandry, the local families have taken new initiatives such
as the development of their community pastures. The domestic milk consumption has
increased significantly and this is reflected in improved health status of the children
and women.
The members of the Self Help Groups have started meeting regularly to collect
savings and provide loan to needy members. Apart from the financial transactions,
they also discuss about their problems. This has improved their level of confidence
and harmony within the community.
The use of male crossbreds was the concern of many farmers in the initial stage, as
the crossbreds bullocks do not have the hump found in Zebu cattle. Farmers were
hesitant to use them for agriculture and transportation. They also felt that these
bullocks are very slow and unable to tolerate hot weather. They are gradually
changing their opinion. Now many pairs of crossbred bullocks are seen in the field,
working hard. This is the added benefit of the cattle development programme.
The programme was attractive to poor families, particularly those belonging to
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, as they neither had to acquire any new skills
nor make high investments. Their love for cattle had motivated them to attend public
meetings and training classes to improve their knowledge.
Inspite of such commendable work and significant benefits, the programme often
passes through rough weather. Some times, the DRDA does not have adequate funds
to extend support or some officers prefer to sponsor the programmes directly
implemented by the government departments. Nevertheless, it is with the demand
from the farmers and support from well intended senior officers that BAIF is able to
operate this programme in over 10,000 villages, spread over eight states. Presently,
over 5 lakh cows and buffaloes under this programme produce milk, worth Rs. 750800 crores, mostly benefiting the small farmers.