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ShareKerala set to import Israeli livestock to enhance milk production
NEW DELHI: It is not a cock and bull story. The CPI(M) may be fighting an ideological war with Israel, but the virility of Israeli bulls has floored the comrades.
The CPI(M)-led Kerala government is set to import pedigreed Holstein Friesians and Jersey bulls from Israel to crossbreed with desi cows.
Even as the CPI(M) honchos loudly protest the UPA government's growing defence and strategic ties with Israel, Kerala has decided to import 20 bulls from the country to crossbreed one lakh cows in the first phase.
The state hit by a huge milk shortfall seems to have no option. Kerala animal husbandry minister C Diwakaran, who was in Delhi recently, said,
"A global tender for Israeli bulls will be placed to crossbreed with a select group of cows to augment milk production."
He said the Left Democratic Front in the state had "kept away" its reservation against Israel to improve Kerala's livestock, adding, "We decided to do away with our reservations with regard to the animals."
Kerala currently buys 10 per cent of its milk from neighbouring states. It is also planning to import 2,000 doses of Israeli bull semen and 200 embryos. The move would boost milk production by 20 per cent in three years.
Asked if the CPI(M) has a problem with the Kerala government importing bulls from Israel, politburo member Sitaram Yechury downplayed the issue saying, "If the Centre does business with Israel, Kerala alone cannot stop."
But NN Krishna Das, the party's Lok Sabha MP and a confidant of chief minister VS Achutanandan, said, "This is the first time I am hearing of such ties with Israel. It needs to be probed. Kerala will not appreciate any dealings with Israel."
Even on Saturday, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat lambasted, at a party meeting in Delhi, the UPA government for its "strategic ties" with Israel.
