india

Updated: Aug 27, 2019 14:29 IST

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Assam has claimed cows produce more milk when they listen to tunes on the flute similar to the ones played by Lord Krishna.

Dilip Kumar Paul, a senior BJP MLA from Silchar in Barak Valley, made the claim while delivering a speech in his constituency on Saturday during a cultural event.

“I told the gathering about the positive impacts of music and dance and how it has been scientifically proved that if cows listen to tunes on flute, like the ones played by Lord Krishna, their milk production rises,” Paul said on Tuesday.

When questioned about the research on which he made the claim, the legislator said a Gujarat-based NGO had done some research a few years ago where the connection between flute tunes and increase in milk yield was proved.

“Unlike milk from foreign breeds which give pure white milk, the quality of milk of Indian cows, which is light yellow in colour is much tastier and healthier. Products like cheese, butter, made from milk of Indian cows are also better than those of foreign breeds,” Paul said.

The MLA also expressed concern about the smuggling of cattle from India to Bangladesh through the porous borders in Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal as Tripura and sought an end to it.

“We call the cow ‘gau-mata’ (mother). But thousands of them are being smuggled to Bangladesh every year. This should be stopped,” said the former deputy speaker of Assam assembly.

While Paul’s claim about tunes of Lord Krishna played on the flute is debatable, a study by two psychologists from the University of Leicester in 2001 showed that cows produced 3% more milk when listening to soft, slow music in comparison to fast music.

The study said songs like ‘Everybody Hurts’ by REM and Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ soothed cows enough to produce most milk, while Y2K Euro Club classics like Mousse T vs. Hot and Juicy’s ‘Horny’ failed to produce positive results.