Addressing Cattle Crisis in India through self-sustaining GauDhan Shalas for abandoned cattle.
eArth Samvarta Foundation’s GauDhan Shalas are a unique and innovative model that is promising to convert unproductive cattle from a liability into a valuable resource. Unproductive cattle and male calves become a liability, especially for poor dairy farmers who cannot support feed and shelter for cattle that stop generating revenue for them. Unproductive cattle are thus abandoned on the streets and are forced to scavenge for food and shelter. These animals enter farmers’ fields in search for food where they are speared or poisoned. They also become victims of roadkill as they are left to loiter on highways.
If not attacked physically, abandoned cattle are forced to scavenge for food in landfills where cases of asphyxiation due to feeding on plastics is a real threat. At the same time, excreta from abandoned cattle pose a huge challenge to public health and sanitation. The methane produced from rotting of animal excreta also contributes to global warming. eSF thus took on the task of developing an innovative strategy to not only protect abandoned cattle but also create opportunities for climate change mitigation and wealth generation for villages.
2 Pronged Strategy to Address the Cattle Crisis
eSF’s strategy is a 2 pronged strategy:
- Responsive component (shelter for abandoned cattle)
- Preemptive component (sex determined semen distribution)
How our GauDhan Shala model helps mitigate global warming & climate change ?
Our innovative GauDhan Shala model incorporates biogas technology to trap methane from cattle excreta to produce a clean source of energy. Scattered cattle excreta of abandoned cattle loitering on roads is not only a public health problem but the methane released when the excreta rots also leads to global warming. Our GauDhan Shalas thus help mitigate climate change.