THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It’s time to chuck that traditional notion of cowsheds as straw-strewn, smelly places perennially identified with ruralscape. The first government-run hi-tech dairy farm coming up at Kulathupuzha in Kollam district, will be home to some of the most pampered cattle in the country, technology-wise.
Unique features of the model farm, a project of the Kerala Livestock Development Board (KLDB), include computer chip-fitted cattle, programmable feeders, automatic feeding and milking parlours and research schemes. Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan will lay the foundation-stone for the farm on January 14.
The Rs 5-crore-project is fully funded by the National Project for Cattle and Buffalo Breeding (NPCBB) under its Bull Mother Farm, Progeny Testing and Open Nuclear Breeding schemes. For Kerala, it marks a gen-next experiment in organised dairy farming and an important step in increasing milk production, Food and Animal Husbandry Minister C. Divakaran said.
“At present, there is no similar facility in the Government sector anywhere in the country. The Kulathupuzha farm is one of the three we are planning,” he said.
The farm will have around 200 painstakingly selected, high-productive cattle of the Jersey, Holstein Friesian varieties and sub-continental types like Gir. All information concerning each animal - pedigree, milk yield, feeding patterns and the like - will be stored in a computer chip inside a transponder which the animal will carry in its neck.
“Once a cow enters the feeding parlour, radio signals from the transponder activates the feeding mechanism and the quantity of feed recommended for the animal based on its age, growth and milk production. The feed will be automatically delivered to the parlour,” KLDB managing director Ani S. Das said.
Water will be served in each stall automatically. There will be an in-house cooling system for the animals. Automatic scrapers will clean the stalls regularly using water-jets.
Milking also is automated and a separate milking parlour is designed for it. Milk from each cow will be carefully recorded and collected in a sump.
At any given time, there will be a doctor and another staff at the facility for caring the animals.
It is estimated that the dairy farm will yield around 4,000 litres of milk a day. Kerala today imports 2.5 lakh litres of milk from its neighbours.
The State Government targets increasing milk production by 1 lakh litres by next year through various schemes.
Milk production aside, the dairy farm will contribute to research in progeny testing and benefit local dairy farmers. Farmers can buy high-producing female calves produced here at a reasonable price, and they will also be trained.
In the second phase of the project, the KLDB will expand the farm by introducing milk-based products. The farm will also be linked to KLDB’s joint venture project with the Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute for Medical Science and Technology for production of heart valves.