A sour undertaking
By: JOSEPH THARAYIL VARGHESE
Factory-like dairy farms planned for India will challenge traditional dairy farms that are
not merely business ventures but a way of life across much of the country.
The dairy project in the Kisan
SEZ by Indian Farmers
Fertilizer Cooperative Limited
(IFFCO) in Nellore district in Andhra
Pradesh will allow international
dairies to muscle into the country.
The proposal, has hit a roadblock,
given serious concerns over possible
violation of rules of the Animal
Welfare Board of India (AWBI).
Opposition to such factory-like
dairy operations in many parts of the
world stems from the inhumane
conditions imposed by the dairy
industry on cattle. In India,
undercover investigations by People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA) exposed the inhumane
treatment of cattle, e.g. Oxytocin
abuse to induce unusually high
quantities of milk, which caused
excessive stomach cramping in milch
animals.
Many fear that the government’s
relaxed policies on Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) and the rush to
sign Free Trade Agreements (FTA)
will attract global companies seeking
a 'cash cow' to invest in India, which
has perhaps the world's largest
livestock population.
IFFCO’s Kisan SEZ dairy project
will be run like a corporate farm,
with imported animals coming under
extreme stress at being kept at high
stocking densities in close proximity
with minimal hygienic conditions,
and regularly dosed with drugs
which might result in them
contracting diseases or developing
drug resistant variants of existing
diseases a.k.a. super bugs.
Animals kept within an intensive
cramped system have a higher
likelihood of injuries, reduced
productivity and complications
resulting from climatic shock. Mega
dairy projects have been banned in
many countries due to its potential
hazards. Lincolnshire in UK for
example recently refused permission
to a cattle farm similar to the one
proposed at IKSEZ
Federation of Indian Animal
Protection Organisations (FIAPO) is a
collective of animal protection
organisations in India that is
campaigning against this proposed
project in Nellore."Industrial dairies
are extremely harmful for animals,
local environment, as well as small
farmers. The only party that benefits
is the industrialist", says Arpan
Sharma, FIAPO CEO.
The genetically manipulated
Jersey and Holstein Friesian cows
that are to be imported at a high
A sour undertaking
Factory-like dairy farms planned for India will challenge traditional dairy farms that are
not merely business ventures but a way of life across much of the country.
"IFFCO, a fertiliser company
with no experience in dairying,
is the main proponent of this
dairy and it proposes to
develop an intensive dairy
with 40,000 cows through a
Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)
consisting of IFFCO Kisan
SEZ-Fonterra-Global Dairy
Health consortium."

VARDA MEHROTRA
Director Programmes, FIAPO
price from New Zealand, have
shortened life span, reduced
fertility, greater propensity for
diseases, physiological and
development problems. Animal
slaughter, management of waste
and transportation of animals result
in additional problems.
Moreover, they plan to feed the
cattle corn as opposed to traditional
fodder. This would push up their
milk production costs, but will not
affect their economic viability. So
while we struggle to feed people
below the poverty line, a fertilizer
co-operative with foreign
collaboration will be feeding their
cows corn to produce more milk for
the markets at a higher cost of
production and higher price.
Indian dairy farmers already are
in crisis with increased cost of
production and non-remunerative
prices. The scarcity of natural
resources and crop residue for
fodder has defined the death of
traditional grazing practices. The
productivity of cattle is based on its
care and management; however
farmers will be forced to switch over
to efficient food, and care intensive
breeds to compete. This spells a
bleak future for the conservation of
endemic bovine with lower yield but
higher tolerance to environmental
stressors.
We are the largest producer and
consumer of milk, producing
around 130 million tons and the
total world production estimates
730 million tons, with
approximately 115 million bovine at
present. Yet EU does not permit
import of dairy products from India
in the name of SPS (Sanitary and
Phyto Sanitary) measures saying
that Indian milch animals are not
maintained as per EU standard.
Even the Food and Safety
Standards Authority of India
(FSSAI) has announced 68% of the
bulk milk supplies are found to be
unsafe and substandard quality. So
why is this consortium interested in
India?
The continued 3% approximate
growth of milk production, bundled
with a low production cost, the per
capita consumption growing at
1.5% annually, and improved
incomes causing a surge in
consumption makes India attractive
to investments. Once the economics
and the production facilities are put
into place, and the 'pilot' project is
found ‘acceptable', this consortium
plans at least 10 other such dairy
farms in other locations in India.
Towards bovine care standards,
cattle require shelter for protection
from environmental and parasitic
elements, as they perform better
under favourable conditions. The
comfortable temperature range for
dairy breeds of cattle is 15 degrees
C to 27 degrees C. Climatic stress
occurs when the temperature goes
5 degrees C below or above this
range. High humidity combined
with high temperature could cause
greater stress. So, the meagre space
requirements of dairy animals as
per Bureau of Indian Standards
(BIS) raise the question: Have they
considered the dimensions of all
breeds of cattle?
In the legal context, The
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Act, 1960 is ineffective in controlling
cases of animal abuse, and deaths
resulting thereof due to the noncognisable
nature of offences, which
in legal terms endows minor
punishments. Our aged laws need
amendment especially relating to
dairy. There are concerns of
violation of provisions of Andhra
Pradesh Cow Protection Act.
Even countries like New
Zealand, from where we plan to
import impregnated cattle, embryos
and semen, have Animal Welfare
codes for Dairy Cattle, Commercial
Slaughter and Painful Husbandry
Procedures. Lack of stringent
Indian standards would encourage
foreign and local adventurism
because India is outside the legal
jurisdiction of international
standards and therefore open to
cowboy tactics.
Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Dr. R.M.
Kharb, AVSM AWBI Chairman
added, "I do hope good sense
prevails and Andhra Pradesh Govt.
does not approve the mega dairy
project."
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