Mooduperar hosts many breeds at Cattle fair

From 11-day-old calf to giant Jersey breed, there were nearly 400 cattle

With nearly 400 cattle including the youngest — 11 days old calf — to the hefty cow which gives 32 liters of milk per day, grabbed the attention of the crowd, persuading even those who lack interest in cattle rearing to reconsider their thought.

The occassion was the cattle fair and the seminar on cattle rearing jointly organised by the Dakshina Kannada Co-operative Milk Producers Union Limited (DKMUL) and Mundabettu Milk Co-operative Society at Jeevothama farm in Mooduperar near Kaikamba on Tuesday.

Though the occasion was limited to the cattle exhibition, the members of as many as 72 milk societies in Mangalore taluk assembled at Jeevothama farm along with their cattle. With hundreds of cattle, calf and buffaloes belonging to three main breeds namely HF variety, local and Jercy breed assembled in the fair, it appeared as though each cattle was saying “I am better than you”.

One of the farmers Rathan Kumar from Nellikaru who had brought two of his cattle to the fair belonging to Gir and Shahival breed said that the daily expenditure of rearing a cow would be no less than Rs 150 per day. But these cattle give quality milk which is tastier and thicker than the milk produced by the other breeds. “Our cattle had won prizes in Krishi Mela held in Bajagoli recently and I think the reason behind them winning the prize is their health and fitness,” he said.

When asked the objective behind organising the cattle fair, DKMUL President Raviraj Hegde informed that the fair intends to remove the preconceived notion among the public cattle rearing is not a profitable business and a cow produces only 5-6 liters of milk a day. “

As the DKMUL is celebrating its 25th year anniversary, we have been organising cattle fair in every taluk and have received a very good response from the farmers. We want to bring awareness about cattle rearing among the farmers in particular and the public in general,” he said.

Ready to eat food for cattle

No more the cattle in Jeevothama farm would eat grass, maize or other powders, but they would be in a privileged position to hog ready to eat food prepared in Rajasthan.

Speaking to the media persons, Jeevothama farm owner and Mundabettu Milk Society President M Narahari Prabhu informed that he has imported ready to eat fodder block for the cattle from Rajasthan. The cattle will be fed with this fodder on trial basis and the KMF too is planning to establish fodder block producing units. Each block costs Rs 180, he said.

Calf rearing scheme

Dakshina Kannada Co-operative Milk Producers Union Limited (DKMUL) has come with Calves rearing scheme to favour the quality rearing of the calves. DKMUL President Raviraj Hegde said that the scheme would cover 5,000 calves in DK and Udupi districts and the owner of the calf will be given a help aid of Rs 5,000 to rear a calf. “Calves are generally neglected by the farmers and are not fed properly. It is with this context we will initiate the scheme,” he informed.