The problem of stray cows will be solved only if society treats them as mothers and finds value in all their products, Agriculture Minister Raghavji Patel said at GauTech, 2023, a five-day expo on cow-based industries that concluded in Rajkot on Sunday. Addressing the concluding ceremony of the expo on Race Course ground, 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. “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 said. “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 said that only its milk but dung and urine of cows are equally valuable products and appealed to people to make value-added products from them. Referring to efforts being made by Governor Acharya Devvrat for promotion of cow-based natural farming, Patel said, “One cow of our indigenous breed is sufficient to support agriculture in 30 acre.” Maintaining that excess use of chemical fertilisers and synthetic pesticides were harming soil health and posing a threat to human health, the minister said the answer laid in switching over to cow-based natural farming. Patel said the government was committed to promoting cow-based natural farming and that farmers switching over to this type of farming would harvest high-quality crops, which would fetch better prices in the market and help the cause of human health. Referring to Mukhya Mantri Gau Poshan Yojana, under which the state government is providing financial assistance to gaushalas and panjrapoles for taking care of unproductive cattle, Patel said the government is also providing Rs 900 per month per cow to farmers for promoting cow-based natural farming. Incidentally, stray cattle are emerging as a menace in Gujarat, causing road accidents and raiding standing crops. At least three persons, including a child, have been killed in cattle attacks in Saurashtra and Kutch region in recent months. Organised by the Global Federation of Cow-based Industries (GCCI), GauTech 2023 had begun on May 24. Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy, Parshottam Rupala, had thrown it open in presence of former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and IFFCO chairman Dilip Sanghani. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Gujarat Water Resources Minister Kunvarji Bavaliya and Women and Child Development Minister Bhanu Babariya were among the dignitaries who visited the expo, which had 212 stalls set up by various organisations and industries working in the sector of agriculture and other cow-based industries. Patel further congratulated Vallabh Kathiria, the former Union minister who is the founder of GCCI – a Rajkot-headquartered not-for-profit company working for promotion of cow-based industries – and Hansraj Gajera, organising chairman of GauTech 2023, for organising an expo of such a large scale. Kathiria was also the first chairman of Rashtriya Kamdhenu Ayog.
