MP aims to reap economic gains from cow dung, urine
BHOPAL: The board has plans to form a framework with the help of gaushala owners that will help in the marketing of the cow urine and cow dungbased products on a mass scale. SWAMI AKHILESHWARANAND GIRI, chairperson, Gau Samvardhan Board
Madhya Pradesh, which has the country’s highest cattle population, is looking to cash in on the “economic potential” of cow dung and urine.
The state government’s Gau Samvardhan Board is in talks with owners of cow shelters on creating a framework for commercial utilisation of ‘gobar-gau mutra’ available by tonnes daily.
According to veterinary scientists, a cow, on an average, produces 10 to 12 litres of urine and 20 to 25 kg of dung daily. As many as 1,296 gaushalas (cow shelters), housing more than 150,000 cows are registered with the Madhya Pradesh Gau Samvardhan Board.
Swami Akhileshwaranand Giri, chairperson of the Gau Samvardhan Board, said their officials met cow shelter owners in December last year and another meeting would be held soon.
“The board has plans to form a framework with the help of the gaushala owners that will help in the marketing of the cow urine and cow dung-based products on a mass scale. This framework can be a society or a company or a similar entity. It is the first such initiative in the country,” he said.
According to Giri, owners of 72 gaushalas in the state were already making cow urine and cow dung-based products. “As they have expertise in this, they will be part of the group that will help us in providing training and logistic support to hundreds of other gaushala owners to create this commercial set-up.”
Giri said once the project takes shape, Madhya Pradesh can start mass production of cow urine and cow dung based biofertilisers, vermi-compost, herbal products, panchagavyabased herbal medicines, cosmetic products such as soaps and shampoos, and incense sticks.
“Our aim is to improve the quality of ingenious cows and the quality of their life. We have to make cow rearing economically viable. Then only things will change on both ends of the spectrum. On one side, we will have better cows, and on the other, this bovine wealth will help the farmers develop a secondary source of income that can help them to wade through difficult times, like when their crop fails,” he said.
Dr Praveen Shinde, assistant director of the board, said to begin with they want to focus on mass production of cow dungbased manure, which can have a huge market in the state, which has nearly 50 million farmers.
MP houses the country’s first cow sanctuary in Agar Malwa district. The sanctuary, with more than 4,200 cows, was inaugurated in September last year.
According to the last livestock census 2012, Madhya Pradesh has nearly 20 million cattle, which is 10.27% of India’s cattle population.