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Jallikattu And After: Efforts To Breed Indigenous Cattle Gain Momentum

by Ramesh Babu

- Feb 18, 2018, 12:55 pm

• The Union and Tamil Nadugovernments are working towards expanding the

indigenous cattle population with their importance becoming clearer now.

A National Dairy Development B()ard (NDDB) survey conducted in 2012 and !

reviewed in 2014 showed about a loss of five million in indigenous cattle population i

in Tamil Nadu. For decades now! the people in Tamil Nadu have been following What

the state has been recommending for cattle rearing. i i

India's growth was hit during mid 1960s due to frequent wars and famine, following

which the country opted for a mo~e sustainable strategy to face the situation.

Manifold increase in food production red to the Green Revolution, which spread into

milk and marine products. The Green Revolution was followed by a foreign aid called

PL-480 where import of wheat from the US helped in meeting the shortage in buffer

stock or the mandatory foodgrain's that need to be stored in warehouses to meet any

emergency. In due course, urban growth with explosion in population necessitated

more production to meet demands of food consumption and other everyday products

including agricultural subsidiaries such as milk, meat and vegetables. I 1

The dairy sector also received foreign assistance following which hybridisation of

cattle was encouraged by the government, and farmers switched to new cattle

breeds substituting traditional varieties. They were convinced by additional quick

bucks in rearing hybrid varieties . The situation across the nation turned in favour of .

hybrid cattle as· Gujarat's Anand Modelled to self-sufficiency in milk production . On

the other hand, farmers faced shortage in cattle fodder as the Green Revolutio'n

could not provide enough of it f6r their cattle. It led to abandoning of indigenous

. cattle breeds with the other important factor being the output of milk from these cows

was only half that of hybrid cattle breeds.

Indian agriculture is completely dependent on climatic conditions. In order to

safeguard production , the farmers relied on traditional. varieties for foodgrain

production. Milch animals played a vital role. Separating animals and farming had a

huge impact on the former. Milch animals were removed from the cycle of food

production and merely reared for milk. Even their manure was replaced with

chemical fertilisers. Therefore, new agricultural practices alienated indigenous cattle

from the agrarian ecology. The White Revolution made farmers adopt a dual strategy

of using indigenous cattle for personal consumption and hybrids for commercial use.

Even this was not sustainable.

The Impact On Indigenous Cattle

According to the NDDB survey, Tamil Nadu had 7,400,000 indigenous cattle in 1992,

but it dropped sharply to 2,400,000 in 2012. Similarly, buffalo population dropped to

8 lakh from 32 lakh during the period . The net impact of such a sharp fall in the

bovine population can well be understood. Currently, water shortage in the state'

makes farming activities very difficult. While farmers search for additional revenue or

primary income through milch-rearing, they are facing hurdles inthe form of

dominance of milk distributors who exploit them. Various issues in the current milk

production cycle have forced them to turn their attention towards indigenous cattle,

which provides good income as demand for traditional/organic milk is on the rise. But

they are left searching for indigenous cattle as they are few in numbers and getting

the perfect variety is difficult.

Jallikattu , a traditionaL sport organised annually during Pongal celebrations in the

state, had been providing an opportunity to select high-quality bulls for re-productive

activities. According to a Tamil Nadu government memorandum, submitted to the

Union government to lift the ban on jallikattu (which was done by including the bulls

in the performing animals list by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 2011),

the traditional event helps conserve the native germ plasm since bulls with excellent

physical attributes are reared for this sport. As the breeding of indigenous cattle

faced an unexpected crisis, there was no other countermeasure to select high-quality

germ plasm.

The jallikattu protests' underlying message was to encourage breeding of indigenous

cattle. The then environment and forest ministerJairam Ramesh got a notification

issued on 11 July 2011, enlisting bulls in the performing animals list. The protests in

January 2017 were spontaneous since the people understood the importance of

indigenous cattle.

A lot happened after that and currently the Supreme Court of India is looking into the

entire aspect of the traditional bull fight. But now that the jallikattu event is being held

for the last two years, we can expect some improvement in the number of indigenous

cattle, especially with demand for organic dairy products from indigenous cattle

increasing. It is another matter that even the indigenous cattle urine is now being

promoted asa cure for various illnesses, including cancer.

Towards this, the Tamil Nadu government has done a great service by opening a

centre for indigenous cattle research in Erode district on 15 February at a cost of Rs

5 crore . This will help protect and develop the Kangayam variety of indigenous cattle.

The state government is doing its bit in this effort. Similarly, the Union government is

planning to introduce artificial insemination across the country to expand the

indigenous cattle population.

Ramesh Sabu is.ajournalist with 15 years of experience. Till recently he was with the Daily Thanthi Group. Now he is a freelance writer.