Community Development at Hindustan Zinc includes health and wellbeing of not just local communities, but also extends to their sources of livelihood – their farms and livestock. On World Animal Welfare Day, SAMADHAN farmers invited livestock expert Dr. D. P. Gupta from Government Animal Husbandry department at Udaipur. The cattle health specialist gave a holistic training on livestock development, vaccination, importance of deworming, benefits of artificial insemination (AI) and breed improvement, enhancement of milk production, seasonal diseases and home remedies for cattle, along with welfare methods for care of stray animals. More than 60 beneficiaries of SAMADHAN project from 10 villages actively participated in the event. SAMADHAN project reaches more than 2200 farmers and benefits over 1300 cattle rearers at Zawar.
Dr. D. P. Gupta shared knowledge and information on various aspects linked with seasonal diseases in cattle. He emphasized that consumption of excessive grass is harmful to animals. During monsoon, animals choose soft and freshly sprouted grass and consume it in large quantities. Since fresh grass has a lot of water and fibre, it is unhealthy for the animals and causes diarrhoea. A simple preventive solution would be to cut grass and dry it in sunny weather and store it as fodder. Another issue specially related to monsoon is that of excessive moisture which is linked with bacterial diseases as well as worms. A preventive as well as curative remedy is to ensure de-worming – both, at the beginning of the rainy season as well as at regular intervals during monsoon season. Udder Diseases, commonly known as udder mastitis occur during monsoon. They cause the cattle’s udder to swell and then reduce or stop milk production. These can be treated using general antibiotics. Cattle rearers should regularly disinfect their farms and animal shelters through-out the rainy season as a preventive measure. Cattle Pests like ticks cause a disease called east coast fever, which is serious can also lead to the death of cattle. Farmers must spray their animals regularly to treat infection caused by ticks and cut the bushes near the cattle shades to prevent ticks. Additionally, Indigestion in cattle is a common cause of reduced milk production and overall poor health of the animal. Feeding Mustard oil is a simple home remedy that could help resolve the issue. He also shared basic healthcare information for taking care of stray animals.
Dr. D. P. Gupta appreciated the work being done by Hindustan Zinc through SAMADHAN project and said, “I really found the farmers of Zawar progressive and enthusiastic and looking at the potential of livestock development, setting up a dairy unit can be very successful in this area.”
Mr. Nathulal Patel, a cattle rearer at Zawar and SAMADHAN beneficiary said, “ Under Samadhan project, I was informed about the benefits of Artificial Insemination among goats. Currently I have 2 hybrid baby goats thanks to goat AI under SAMADHAN. I started providing BNH – 10 Napier grass to all my cattle after attending a training by explained by Samadhan. This has noticeably increased the milk production capacities among them which has led to improved income. As one of the cattle rearers benefiting under Samadhan project, I receive time to time information and training on preventive and curative care of animals which has been really helpful to me and many of us.”
Through SAMADHAN project, best scientific practices have been combined with technology along with inputs from domain experts to enhance the productivity of existing farm-based resources owned by more than 11000 livestock rearers across Rajasthan. The cattle rearers are trained on various aspects of cattle health in terms of preventive and curative health, along with ensuring an increase in milk production capacity of cattle and breed improvement of livestock. The company also organizes seasonal cattle health camps and ensures availability of fresh and high nutrition feed for cattle. The company’s aim is to make India better and to achieve that goal they want to empower the backbone of our country with their resources and expertise at every step possible. SAMADHAN project is implemented by Hindustan Zinc in technical partnership with BISLD.