No takers for Military farm cows: Army lower prices to Rs1000 per animal

Pashu Sandesh, 03^rd July 2018

It seems there are no takers for the high yielding 25000 plus Frieswal cows of the erstwhile Military farms. In an attempt to sell down the cows the Government has lowered the asking price to merely a token amount of 1000Rs per animal which otherwise are valued at over one lakh each. The cost of transportation however is to be borne by the buyer. The animals would be sold only to State Dairy Cooperatives and government agencies. The idea behind not selling the Cows to the private players is the fear of losing cows to the slaughter houses. As such the Frieswal cows require high maintenance and it is not possible for anyone other than large Cooperatives to handle these animals.

Defense Ministry last year had decided to shut down 39 odd military farms spread all over the country covering around 20 thousand acres of land. As such the Military farms were fulfilling only the 14% requirement of total Milk required by the Armed Forces at the very high cost of maintenance of these farms. Government tried to auction the animals of the farms and the move became a no go from the very beginning in the absence of the buyers.  

Military farms started in 1889 to provide fresh milk to the troops has become a liability. Closure of the farms would free up large area of land to the tune of more than 20000 Acres and would also free more than 50000 soldiers for combat duties who were otherwise employed at the military farms.