India has the largest bovine wealth in the globe accounting to 65% of the world cattle population, followed by Brazil and the USA. In India, the cattle population is a resource and means of livelihood for a plethora of dairy and landless farmers. Bos Indicus, or the Zebu, an Indigenous variety of India is placed on a higher pedestal owing to a rich reverence to it and spiritual significance in Indian Mythology. The Indian Bull (Male) fondly called as Nandi is regarded as the vehicle of Lord Shiva. Indian Cow (Female) is believed an abode of 33,000 deities and is fondly called as Gomata or Mother Cow.
Contribution of cattle to the Indian economy is evident through the thumping success of white revolution or operation flood in the year 1970, which has set an unprecedented milestone in the history of independent India. The sanctity of this article lies comprehending that, the highly revered Indian Cow has an infinite potential to revive the Indian economy through her urine and dung.
Out of myriad species of animals on this earth, only cow’s urine called as Gomutra in India is said to possess medicinal properties to cure modern diseases like Obesity, Alzheimer’s, Diabetes Mellitus, Diarrhoea, Anaemia, Cancer, and many more besides boosting immunity. Cow’s Urine is also said to possess anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties and thus can be an alternative to chemical-laced phenyls, disinfectants, floor cleaners. Cow Dung, on the other hand, is a rich source of plant useful bacteria such as bacilli, lactobacilli and cocci. It is hackneyed that, cow dung is organic manure, however it may be insightful to discern that, Cowdung flakes are used for many spiritual practices and rituals like Agnihotra, Havan at temples and many religious places. However, the marketing channel of Cow’s urine and dung is not properly structured despite having numerous benefit for the business economy in general and mankind in particular.
The secret lies in scientifically processing and packaging cow urine and dung from their raw form to a more acceptable and marketable form. Customer-friendly buying options either at exclusive retail outlets or under multi-brand retail or Khadi Bhandar could be an embellishment to trade them.
Efficient and sustainable utilisation of cow’s urine and dung could drive the economy further by the way of passing numerous benefits to cattle farmers, retailers and everyone in the loop of its supply chain. A few noteworthy ones to delineate are, firstly, it could provide an additional source of revenue to cattle/ dairy farmers round the year and compensate losses in agriculture, if any, and thereby provide financial cushion during the off agricultural seasons. Secondly, employment opportunities will spring up by the way of setting up retail outlets, and logistics. Thirdly soil degradation and land pollution could be checked, if Panchgavvya (Concoction of Urine, Dung, Curd, Ghee, and Milk) can be used as an alternative to chemical fertilizers. Pachgavvya can become one affordable product all by itself for many farmers, terrace or kitchen gardening. In the days to come, the Swadeshi movement could get a shot in the arm through the cow driven economy. The landscape of India is shaped and adorned by 6, 50,000 odd villages, with a well-knit strategy and a technology-enabled platform these rural hinterlands could well become the face of Indian economy and certainly propel the economy to greater heights.
Authors
Shri K. S. Deshpande, Advocate, Bagalkot
Dr Sanjay K Deshpande, Asst Professor, KLS, IMER, Belagavi.
Dr Madhumati Kulkarni, Former HOD, Dept of English, KLS GCC, Belagavi.
References
Rajeswari, S. & Poongothai, E. & Hemalatha, N. (2016). Antimicrobial activities of cow dung extract against human pathogens. International Journal of Current Pharmaceutical Research.
Randhawa, G. K., & Sharma, R. (2015). Chemotherapeutic potential of cow urine: A review. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4566776/.
Verma, R. (2017, August 8). India Unclear How Many Villages It Has, And Why That Matters. Retrieved from https://archive.indiaspend.com/cover-story/india-unclear-how-many-villages-it-has-and-why-that-matters. Authors
