The decision to promote this indigenous variety has come after the state government had religiously promoted highest milk-yielding exotic species — Holstein Friesian (HF) — in Punjab for 35 years beginning 1980.
CHANDIGARH – As Hindu organisations have ignited a debate over indigenous versus foreign cows, the Punjab government is promoting that variety of cow (Sahiwal), whose count is just 1.5 per cent of the total cow population in Punjab and which produces less milk compared to popular breed.
The logic being given is that since Sahiwal’s milk is of better quality and it can cope well with the local conditions, the state will gradually shift its reliance on this variety even for commercial milk production.
Strangely, the decision to promote this indigenous variety has come after the state government had religiously promoted highest milk-yielding exotic species — Holstein Friesian (HF) – in Punjab for 35 years beginning in 1980.
Because of the promotion, the exotic variety (HF) today constitutes massive 96 per cent of the total cow count in Punjab.
Experts suggest that given their negligible count and low milk production, the promotion of Sahiwal will hardly serve any purpose.
Sources said of the total over 24 lakh cows, there are only around 38,500 Sahiwal cows in Punjab. Of the total 22 districts, there are 12 districts where the population of Sahiwal is less than 1,000.
“The purpose of rearing a cow is to produce milk for commercial purpose. On an average, Sahiwal produces 9-10 litres of milk compared to 25-30 litres by HF. It is beyond our understanding how promotion of Sahiwal will help us in meeting the milk demand,” said a senior scientist of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU).
“We started promoting HF four decades ago as we needed milk to feed our population. Now if again shift focus on indigenous breeds, we will be staring at acute milk scarcity,” he added.
The variety is being promoted with funds provided by the Central government under the Rashritya Gokul Mission.
Department officials revealed that veterinarians across Punjab had been categorically told to identify all Sahiwal cows in their respective territories and artificially inseminate them with pure semen of the Sahiwal variety.
Interestingly, the rationale being suggested by the Punjab Animal Husbandry Department behind this decision is the age-old established fact that exotic varieties are not suited for rearing in foreign (Punjab’s) environment.
“Sahiwal’s milk has higher fat content than HF, which will compensate its low yield. Moreover, Sahiwal is indigenous species of Punjab and it copes well with the local environment. Since demerits of HF have begun manifesting, we now need to gradually shift our reliance to such indigenous varieties,” said Dr HS Sandha, Director, Punjab Animal Husbandry Department.
