Owners with happy, high milk-yielding cows could win Rs 2 lakh in MP

The animal husbandry department has set up a competition to incentivise people to save Indian breeds of cows

Published on: Nov 10, 2017, 07:18:18 IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | By Shruti Tomar

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The owner of a happy, healthy and the highest milk yielding cow in Madhya Pradesh will not only make its owner proud but also give them a chance to win Rs 2 lakh. The total prize money for the winners from block to state level is approximately Rs 1.20 crore.

Women worship a cow on Gopashtami festival on October 28, 2017. (Diwakar Prasad/ HT File Photo)

All a milch cow owner has to do is to take part in a competition the Animal Husbandry department has organised with an objective to save cows in the state.

Recently, Haryana government had organised a beauty pageant for Indian breed cows in Jhajjar to promote particularly Murra breed.

In the competition, cows of only Indian breed and which yield more than four litres milk at one time can be enrolled for the competition. The competition will be held at block, district and state level. The state level competition will be held in December. The winner will get Rs 2 lakh in cash while the runner-up and second runner-up will receive Rs 1 lakh and fifty thousand. Similarly, the district level winner will get Rs 50,000 and the block level will get Rs 10,000 against cash prize.

“This is a unique competition to motivate cow owners who take the best care of their cows. The competition began in the first week of November. Not only amount of milk but health and proper care of cow would also be considered for selecting the winner,” said Kedar Singh, executive director, Animal Husbandry.

The motive is to save the cows of Indian breed and improve the breed so that it could compete with foreign breed cows like Jersey.

“After arrival of cows of foreign breed, the cows of Indian breed are being ignored by dairy owners. Despite informing them as to how to increase the milk production the dairy owners seem to be the least interested. This annual competition will definitely motivate them,” he added.

Experts also feel that the competition will bring about a change in the field of cow rearing.

“In Punjab and Haryana, the Indian breed cows are in a far better position but here in MP, dairy owners don’t rely much on Indian breeds as there is a misconception among them that to rear Indian cows will not give them a profit. The prize money for competition is a good decision and for small dairy owners this will definitely be a motivating factor,” said Bharat Sharma, registrar of Gau Savardhan Board, Madhya Pradesh.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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