Cash cow

JAIPUR: It's not just milk, cow urine , too, is bringing in a revenue stream for dairy farmers in Rajasthan now. The demand is such that the farmers are selling urine of high breed cows, such as Gir and Tharparkar, at Rs 15-Rs 30 per litre in the wholesale market, while a litre of cow milk fetches them a price between Rs 22 and Rs 25.

Kailesh Gujjar, from Jaipur, has started selling cow urine to people who are into organic farming. He says his earnings has increased by at least 30% after he started selling cow urine, apart from milk. Cow urine is used as an alternative to pesticides by organic farmers. People use cow urine for medicinal purposes and also in rituals.

Gujjar's change in fortune comes with a price, though. He says he has to stay awake the entire night keeping a watch on the cows to ensure that urine doesn't fall on the ground. "Cow is our mother, so I don't mind staying awake at night," says Gujjar, who has been selling milk since last two decades.

Om Prakash Meena, a milk trader, has started buying cow urine from a Gir cowshed in Jaipur. "I sell one litre of cow urine between Rs30 and Rs50. The demand for urine is high among organic farmers who use it as in alternate to pesticides. They sprinkle cow urine on crops to prevent from insect attacks," says Meena. "Many people use cow urine in rituals like 'yagna' and 'panchgavyam' during 'janaau' ceremony," he adds.

The government-run Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology in Udaipur uses 300-500 litres of cow urine every month in its organic farming project. The university has roped in dairy farmers across the state for supplying cow urine. Every month, the university purchases cow urine worth Rs15,000-Rs20,000. Vice-chancellor Uma Shankar says, "Cow urine has the potential to provide additional income to farmers." Rajasthan has around 8,58,960 cows in 2,562 state-run shelters, says Ota Ram Dewasi, Gopalan department minister in the Vasundhara Raje cabinet.

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In Video: Cow urine in high demand in Rajasthan, fetches up to Rs 30/ltr