CHENNAI: What do you do if there’s not been a drop of rain for months and not a blade of grass on the river beds and you have to live through yet more weeks of a drought unseen in 140 years? You sell your cattle to save on the fodder and wait for the rains so you can pick up the pieces.
The Rules on Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Market) have cut farmers off from their last resort, farm leaders in Tamil Nadu opine.
According to a senior researcher at the Tamil Nadu University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (TANUVAS) keeping cattle during a drought can be an expensive proposition. On average, it costs a farmer up to Rs 400 a day to raise an animal. An acre’s haul of hay would cost him Rs 7,000. It’s not the kind of money a farmer would have when all agricultural operations have ceased.
“There has been a loss of grazing land due to development and there is a severe shortage of fodder which has resulted in a rise in fodder prices. This makes it inevitable for a farmer to sell off his cattle,” he said.
As N Ganesan, the joint secretary of the Tamil Nadu Milk Producers Association said, selling cattle is a source of emergency funds for a farmer. It might take care of an unforeseen contingency and would save him the expense on fodder.
Farmers apart, the new rules threaten to tear asunder the entire economy of slaughter. According to S Selvaraj, president of the Tamil Nadu Cow traders and Labourers Welfare Association, it is likely to affect nearly 20 lakh people such as traders, brokers, drivers and tanners who are involved in the business directly and indirectly.
P Sukumaran, a farmer from Tirupoonthurthi in Thanjavur district, said that widowed women farmers depend on milch animals for livelihood.“When the milk yield goes down they sell the animals and buy again. The new regulations will make it difficult for such marginal farmers,” he said.
Tamil Nadu has more than 50 markets in which cows are sold throughout the week (a particular day is allotted to each market). More than 2,000 cows are sent to Kerala for meat.
The TANUVAS senior researcher said farmers tend to sell off native breeds as they have lesser yield than milch cows. “The meat of naatu maadu (native varieties) is preferred in Kerala as it is tastier,” he said.
This would mean that if a black market of cattle trade arose in the state, native breeds will be sold for slaughter more easily.
Gaushalas that host only native breeds say they are not equipped to take in large number of animals. S Dhanapathy of the Ko Sakthi gaushala in Pudukottai said, “Many farmers give away their cattle because they don’t have money and do not want them suffering from thirst and hunger.”
What can go wrong if farmers are barred from selling for slaughter?