Cows diseased, defy vaccination impact; where are the hi-tech cows from abroad?

By O.J.George

Macrobiotic system of food habits insists on not using animal milk by human beings, but milk consumption has been going up world wide.

In Kerala, the supply is not sufficient to meet the demands, for which we depend on Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The latest is that supplies from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are slow because of heavy intake by Amul company there itself.

The government has been speaking about new breeding policy and introduction of high-yielding variety of cows in Kerala.

In olden days we had Vechoor type of cows which yielded a litre of milk a day, but it was disease resistant and meagre grass consumer.

Later, for some years the Sunandini type ruled the roost and we had a lot of milk during the times. This variety also disappeared following a lot of problems, including low birth rate.

We tried, Jersy, Swiss Brown etc which yielded more milk, but the rearers were not able to take off very well.

Now there has been talk of bringing embryos from Israel, which had pioneered in cross breeding with its varieties with the Dutch Holstein Freisian.

Now these are Israeli Friesian which take on adverse conditions and still yield good amount of milk. This variety, if introduced here would yield 25 litres of milk a day, according to estimates.

But how are we going to manage the upkeep, medical attention and all?

Vechoor and nearby areas and many other places in Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Palakkad districts are hit by foot and mouth disease in cows.

Roughly 2,000 cows are affected in Kottayam district alone.

Authorities speak about providing vaccination of the cows against foot and mouth disease. The situation is far from satisfactory.

Either vaccination has not been done properly or the disease has become resistant. In that case, more powerful type of vaccination has to be found.

Introduction of cattle rearing as mere tool for poverty eradication would not provide an impetus for the sector to take off.

Those rearing cows and other cattle heads should be able to improve their standard of living with income from the farming.

The prevailing situation is far below the optimum standards required to popularise cattle rearing and achieve self-sufficiency in milk production.