Deworming has no effect, the medicine is wasted - Devendra Chaudhary (Dairy Farmer) U.P.
In the business of dairy farming, it is not enough to just keep good breed cattle, but they also need proper care. Periodically, the health of cattle is checked, vaccinated, and dewormed, as important as feeding them green fodder and keeping them in an open environment. A healthy animal is the hallmark of a successful dairy farm because only a healthy cow or buffalo can get a large amount of milk.
Decrease in milk production even after proper care of cows
We spoke to Devendra Chaudhary, a dairy farmer who has been doing dairy farming for the last six years in Allahabad district of Uttar Pradesh, about the question of what to do to take care of the health of the animals in dairy farming. Devendra Chaudhary's dairy farm has 35 HF and Sahiwal breed cows. He said that he takes great care of the health of the cows of his dairy farm, getting them checked by a local veterinary doctor from time to time. All cows and calves are vaccinated every year.
Not only this, but they also do deworm three-four times a year, but the milk of cows is constantly decreasing. He said that about a year ago, his farm used to have around 150 liters of milk, but now there are less than 100 liters of milk. He said that the stomach of the cows has got worms, due to this, fodder and animal feed do not appear in the body of the cows, because all the food is eaten by the worms in the stomach. So the health of the cows is also declining and the milk is also decreasing. When we asked dairy farmer Devendra Chaudhary ji about the way of deworming, he said that the local doctor has given medicine and he feeds the same medicine to the cows every time, despite this, the stomach of the cows is not good. Not only this but there is also a lot of irregularity in the arrival of cows in the heat. He said that he does not understand what is the reason and all the money of medicine is also being wasted.
Technology in small dairy farms is not beneficial
He also spoke to Devendra Chaudhary Ji, a dairy farmer who is looking very upset about the health of cows, in other aspects of dairy farming. On the use of technology, he said that its use is beneficial only when the dairy farm is large enough, which means that there are more than 100 cattle on the farm. In small dairy farms, milking machines, milk parlors, bulk milk coolers, chiller units, etc. are of no special use. He said that when he started dairy farming, he had got a lot of loans under the Kamdhenu scheme of the UP government and the number of cows was also very high. At that time, things like milking machines were used. But now the number of milch cows has reduced considerably, so there is no use in milking milk from the machine. Now they milk milk milk on their farms by hand instead of machines.
Just the figure of vaccination and AI
When asked about the importance of data in dairy farming, dairy farmer Devendra Chaudhary said that he notes the data of vaccination of cows and the timing of AI, but the rest do not maintain any other data. They said they keep a register for it and keep checking it every month-two month. He said that he does not keep data on milk production, daily diet, etc. Devendra Chaudhary had no idea about the online data management app, he said that if a good app is found, he will definitely use it.
Difficulty in getting good quality semen
Devendra Chaudhary does not do any special work on the improvement of the breed. He said that earlier he was very interested in breed improvement, but there is a problem in getting good quality seaman in his area, so he has stopped the work of breed improvement. He keeps good breed cows on his farm and buys two-four new cows every year, as well as sells old cows. When asked about the awareness about calf rearing, he said that in dairy farming, calf rearing benefits in the long run, but rearing calves on small dairy farms leads to losses. According to Devendra Chaudhary, till the full development of the calf in two years, so much is spent on its fodder and medicine that new cow can be bought if needed for that amount, so he does not give priority to rearing the calf on his farm.
Animal insurance is necessary, but not available
When asked about the utility of animal insurance, he said that the insurance of animals is a thing of work, but its facility is hardly available. According to Devendra Chaudhary, no company in rural areas is interested in insuring animals. Insurance companies only meet the target set by the government and are reluctant to insure after the target is met. He said that earlier there were a lot of cows on his farm and he used to get them insured. But two years ago, many cows died suddenly due to the hoof-mouthful disease. He made several rounds of insurance companies, but despite all the cows being insured, they did not get the insurance claims of all of them. The insurance company insured only three cows, that too half of their price. He said that due to poor experience with animal insurance, he gradually stopped issuing. They have demanded that the government should make it mandatory to ensure every animal, and also instruct insurance companies and banks to go from village to village and insure milch cattle so that the cattle herder does not suffer in times of crisis.