Nishu Mahajan n
It could soon be a type of Aadhaar number with a difference for the cows of Haryana. After imposing harsh penalty to prevent cow slaughter, the State Government has now swung into action to implement its ambitious scheme of ear-tagging the high yielding cows.
Under the conservation and development of indigenous cattle scheme launched by the BJP-led State Government from current fiscal year 2015-16, ear tags or a microchip that stores information and can be tracked remotely would be attached to high yielding cows in the State.
To begin with, the State Government has set a target to identify 1,000 top quality Hariana and Sahiwal breed of cattle during the current fiscal year and fasten ear tags on them. These would be radio frequency identification device (RFID) tags holding information about cows’ date of birth, breed, lactation cycle, calving details, the amount of milk they give and will assist in differentiating similar-looking cattle.
The scheme aims at improving the productivity of indigenous breeds of cattle namely Hariana and Sahiwal in the State.
Under the scheme, the initial approach would include screening of the base population for their peak yield for identification of Hariana and Sahiwal cows (and their progeny) yielding more than 6 kg and 10 kg of milk respectively. All identified cows will be insured.
According to the officials of Haryana Animal Husbandry Department, lack of concerted efforts towards genetic improvement of the indigenous cattle breeds have contributed to their gradual decline in the State. The population of indigenous cattle has reached an all-time low and urgent measures are required for conservation and development of these indigenous breeds.
In spite of having quality genetic resources, the productivity of indigenous cows in the State has not increased upto the desired level mainly because of indiscriminate breeding, lack of record keeping, poor management conditions and unscientific feeding practices, as per the officials.
Haryana has 18.08 lakhs cattle. Out of total cattle population, 8.12 lakhs are indigenous cattle and 9.96 lakhs are exotic/cross bred cattle, as per the 2012 livestock census.
“The Department has begun the process of ear tagging the high yielding cows in the State. An outlay of rs100 lakh has been provided for the scheme for 2015-16,” said Dr Prem Singh, Joint Director (Planning), Haryana Animal Husbandry and Dairying Department while talking to The Pioneer.
He said that the State Government has chalked out a detailed plan to identify high yielding cows in all 21 districts of the State by the end of this financial year. A target to identify a total of 1,000 such cows in Haryana has been fixed.
The tag would also assist in providing special cash incentives and avoid duplication of subsidy on the cows in Haryana, he added.
The State Government has already announced cash incentives ranging from rs10,000 to rs20,000 to the owners of high yielding cows.
Notably, the conservation and development of indigenous cattle in the State remains on top priority of the Haryana Government.
In keeping with its pre-poll promise, the BJP Government in Haryana had in March imposed a complete ban on the sale of beef in any form in the State and had also made cow slaughter punishable by up to 10-year imprisonment following the passage of Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Bill 2015, for protection and upkeep of cows.