After cow dung, Chhattisgarh government to buy cattle urine from farmers

RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh government is planning to procure cattle urine from cattle owners to augment their income, officials said, underlining that the move will lead to better cow protection.

The state government is already buying cow dung from breeders and farmers to make cattle rearing profitable. According to 20th Livestock census, Chhattisgarh had 2,61,503 cattle in 2019.

“The cattle urine will be procured in the same manner as cow dung procured by the Chhattisgarh government. We will procure cattle urine through Gram Gauthan (cattle shed) Samiti and fortnightly payments will be made to cattle owners and farmers for the procurement,” said Pradeep Shrama, advisor to chief minister Bhupesh Baghel.

On June 25, 2020, Baghel launched ‘Gaudhan Nyay Yojana’ for procurement of cow dung to curb instances of farmers abandoning old cows that cause road accidents, loss of life and property.

The government also directed the urban administration department to make arrangements to prevent stray animals. In 20 months, Sharma said, the state government has procured about 6.4 million quintals of cow dung and produced two million lakh quintals of organic vermicompost.

“Now we need organic pesticides and fungicides. Since cow urine is the best base material for organic pesticides and fungicides, so the government plans to buy it from farmers,” Sharma said.

A senior government official familiar with the development said that the chief minister has approved proper research for the procurement process. “The opinion of agriculture scientists and researchers was being taken to prepare the final draft of the scheme,” said the official.

The government is yet to decide the pricing. “Like we did for cow dung, a high-level empowered committee will be constituted to study and suggest procurement price to the government and the chief minister will decide about it,” said Sharma.

Experts said the idea of procuring cattle urine will help farmers and cow owners.

“If the government procures cattle urine, it will be beneficial for the farmers and also the cow owners of the state. Some people are already using organic pesticides in the state made of cattle urine which is beneficial for the crop, soil and also to the people ,” said agriculture scientist based in Raipur, Sitaram Patel.

In November 2021, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the state government is working on the idea of purchasing the cow dung for the purpose of making fertilisers and other products out of it. Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election rally in Uttar Pradesh also spoke about a scheme to buy cow dung.