Treat cows as mother: Agriculture minister's solution to stray cattle problem

Agriculture Minister Raghavji Patel on Sunday said that the problem of stray cows will be solved only if society treats them as mothers and finds value in all their products, according to a report by The Indian Express.

While speaking at GauTech 2023, a five-day expo on cow-based industries that concluded in Rajkot, Patel said that people tend to let their cows loose after they stop producing milk and this was leading to the issue of feral cattle.

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“We worship the cow as our mother. But as soon as it stops producing milk, we are letting it loose on the road. This is why cows are foraging on dung hills and straying on roads,”
Patel was quoted as saying in the report. “This all will stop only when the society understands the utility of the cow, treats it as a mother and finds use of whatever it produces.”

The minister urged individuals to create value-added products from cow dung and urine as they are equally useful by-products.

Patel further said that one cow of our indigenous breed is sufficient to support agriculture in 30 acres.

Urging farmers to move towards cow-based natural farming, Patel said this method of farming would yield high-quality crops, which would fetch better prices in the market. Patel added that the government gives farmers Rs 900 per month per cow to encourage cow-based natural farming.