Source: indianexpress.com
A Holstein Fresian (HF) cow owned by a Moga-based dairy farmer set a national record at the cattle fair which concluded on December 7 at Jagraon. The animal gave 66 litres of milk in a day, thereby breaking a previous record of 62.50 litres.
Harpreet Singh, who owns the four-year-old cow, was awarded a cash prize of Rs 61,000. Harpreet’s brother Jaswant Singh, who owns a three-and-half-year-old Jersey cow, also bagged a prize worth Rs 31,000 at the fair. The cow, Lalli, gave 32 litres of milk in a day, beating other cows of her breed.
The brothers hail from Noorpur Hakiman village of Moga, which is infamous for drug addicts. They, however, said, “We are trying to do our bit to make the village popular for good reasons.”
The brothers participate in various cattle fairs held in Punjab every year and have clinched a number of trophies.
The three-day cattle fair was organised by the Progressive Dairy Farmers Association (PDFA). The previous national record was also created by a HF cow, owned by Daljit Singh Sadarpura, the president of PDFA, at the national livestock mela held at Muktsar in January this year.
Daljit Singh said, “We established PDFA for the betterment of farmers. I am happy to see that someone else’s cow has beaten the record of my cow. This indicates that our efforts are bearing fruits.”
While Harpreet took up dairy farming around seven years ago, his brother ventured into the field a year later. Today, Harpreet owns around 100 cows and his brother around 60. Both supply milk to Moga-based Nestle. Harpreet said, “I follow instructions of experts while charting out the diet plan of my prize-winning cow. I feed her at regular intervals. “
Jaswant said, “We import semen from the US to have a better variety of cows. We also import sex-selective semen to raise only female cows.”
Ajaypal Singh, press secretary of PDFA, said, “More than 800 cows and buffaloes from across the state participated in the fair, which is held annually. There were competitions in milking and breed sections, apart from seminars and exhibition for farmers.”
