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. 750-800 crores, mostly benefiting the small farmers.