- NET Web Desk
In a major cattle development project in Assam, cows from Gir in Gujarat will be witnessed grazing Assam fields Gorukhuti. Incidently, the place was in news in September after two persons lost their lives in police firing during an eviction drive which later turned violent.
A delegation representing the Assam government has reached Gujarat and is locking the deal for purchasing 500 Gir cows this year out of total 5000 Gir cows under the Gorukhuti Land Development Project entailing farming.
Reportedly, the cattle will be procured for milk as well as to multiply their numbers through artificial insemination.
Talking to the media, Purnananda Konwar, the administrative and nodal officer of Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project and Operational Project Implementation Unit, said “the government had plans to buy 5,000 cows – 500 of them within this year.”
“During the initial phase, our target is to buy 500 cows for the Gorukhuti project. We are trying to procure 200 cows within this month…We had a meeting with Gujarat Minister Raghavji Patel yesterday.”
Konwar, a member of the Assam government delegation further informed that a no-objection certificate (NOC) is mandatory for transportation of the livestock. It’s a lengthy procedure but the delegation is trying to simplify it.
He further told that, the process of selecting the cows is going on and around 120 of them have been already selected. The cows will reach Assam once the government of Gujarat gives the green signal and formalities are complete.
It may be mentioned that, the breed of Gir cows are mostly known for their high milk yield qualities. Currently the Assam Government is set to purchase each cow at the rate of 60,000 to 65,000 rupees which has a yield of 12-15 litres of milk. The government is also buying one or two bulls which would help in the insemination process for the cows.
According to the Indian Express report, Konwar stated, “This is a pilot project for Gorukhuti. We have a number of dairy cooperative societies and we will facilitate procurement for them in the next stage. The 500 cows at Gorukhuti will be our stock. Our plan is to buy 5,000 cows. From this stock, we will get around 2,000 female calves every year through artificial insemination.”
It may also be mentioned that earlier in July, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had stated that Assam will start artificial insemination in cattle using sex-sorted semen in order to produce only superior breeds of cows, and also that no bulls were born.
