Green fodder for animals will be grown on gauchar land; project is being undertaken with Gau Seva Ayog
With increasing industrialisation, concerns have been expressed about the reduction of gauchar land (grazing land for animals). The state government is now chalking out a plan to develop such land.
In fact, the state animal husbandry department along with the Gau Seva Ayog is working on a project to develop grazing land in 5,000 villages.
"We want to develop gauchar land which has not been utilised properly. If it is developed scientifically, the problem of green fodder for animals will be completely solved," said Dr Vallabh Kathiria, chairman of Gujarat State Gau Seva Ayog.
As per state government records, 90% of villages in the state have grazing land of 100 acres to 1,000 acres, he said. He added, "We want to make animal husbandry, especially cow rearing, economically viable for people. Despite having huge land within the villages, they need to buy fodder from outside."
In some villages, grazing land has been used for government schemes of housing for the poor while in others it has been encroached upon. However, in a majority of the villages, there is only Prosopis Juliflora (gando baval) on this fertile land, he said.
"We will urge village youth and women to cultivate green nutritious fodder on gauchar land. We will ask panchayats to allot 25 acres of grazing land initially for development. We will also be providing financial assistance of Rs25,000 per acre for the development," said Dr Kathiria.
According to state government officials, the plan to develop grazing land is likely to be included in the 12th five year plan. "We are also considering getting budget allocation for the project," said Dr AJ Kachhiapatel, director of state animal husbandry
department.
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