Haryana Gau Ayog now keen on breeding Gujarat’s Gir cows

Panel has so far been batting for state’s ‘desi’ breeds

CHANDIGARH: Apart from the state’s three desi (indigenous) cow breeds, the Haryana Gau Seva Ayog is eyeing Gir cow - a native of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, Gujarat.

The cow commission, which has voiced its preference for desi cows time and again, is planning to promote the Gir breed in the state in a big way. The state’s own three breeds are Hariana, Sahiwal (originally from Rajasthan) and Tharparkar. Gir is from Kathiawad (Saurashtra) region of Gujarat near Gir national park.

Gau Seva Ayog chairman Bhani Ram Mangla told HT that a team of officials will soon be sent to Gujarat to import Gir livestock to the state. “We have decided to breed and promote Gir cows in Haryana because of their superior milk quality. We, along with the state animal husbandry department, will soon formulate special schemes for popularising them in the state,” Mangla said.

Gir cow was recently in news after the researchers of Junagadh Agriculture University found gold traces (in ionic form) in its urine which is of medicinal value as well.

SK Bagoria, chief superintendent of a livestock farm run by the animal husbandry department in Hisar, said the Gir cows, once brought from Gujarat, will be bred in the farm. The farm has 417 cows of Hariana breed, 565 of Sahiwal and 136 of Tharparkar.

Cow commission secretary OP Chhikara said the government is chalking out various schemes to preserve, conserve, develop and promote indigenous cows by giving incentives for their breeding. Funds have been sought from the Centre for these schemes.

Though Gir cows have successfully been exported to and bred in Brazil and Mexico where, on the Gujarat pattern, selective breeding for higher milk quantity and quality have been maintained, Haryana would be attempting it for the first time.

However, not everyone in the department of animal husbandry is lapping up the idea of promoting Gir in the state. Citing difficulty in procuring the livestock from Gujarat – its number is limited there – as one of the reasons, some senior officials, requesting anonymity, said that Gir’s adaptability to the climatic and environmental conditions of Haryana is yet to be tested. They also said that factors like feeding habits of Gir breed and its sustainability in Haryana were also yet to be examined.

We have decided to breed and promote Gir cow, a breed from Gujarat, in Haryana because of its superior milk quality. BHANI RAM MANGLA, Gau Seva Ayog chairman