Karnal, India — Inside a hut in the northern Indian state of Haryana, loudspeakers play the soft flute. The audience, quietly grazing, were dozens of cows, unconscious subjects in music therapy experiments.
The orchestrator of this scene was a group of scientists studying a simple question: To what extent will wilting heat affect milk production? The season left the answer on their doorstep as the price of their morning milk delivery rose again.
Scientists at the National Dairy Institute are quietly working to maintain India’s status as a dairy powerhouse facing serious threats from climate change, from developing new breeds of water buffalo to new crops of shrubs. We do everything from testing the protein content of
As part of this work, the team looked at daily yield data for hundreds of animals after late spring temperatures were 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) above the previous year’s average. Yields usually decline in the warmer months, but the researchers found that heat stress in April further reduced milk production in healthy crossbred cows by nearly 11 percent.
Team leader Dr. Ashutosh said:
India, the world’s largest milk producer, produces more than 200 million tonnes of milk each year. The dairy industry, which relies on her 80 million farmers across the country, mostly small herds, has grown steadily and now accounts for nearly 5% of India’s economy. From slow-cooked chai to curds and cheese to the butter and cream used in seemingly every dish, only a fraction of the mass production is exported, a sign of the country’s dairy craving.
Animal stress is just one way extreme heat is challenging this important industry. In announcing his 4% rise in milk prices last week, the second rise this year, the dairy producer cited the cost of cattle feed rising nearly 20% of his.
Rising prices for fuel and other essentials haven’t helped, but scientists and farmers are pointing out how extreme weather is making the situation worse. Already troubling feed shortages That hinders further growth of the Indian dairy industry.
The wilting heat is earlier than usual this year, often reaching 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in April and soaring to 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) in May. And it stayed hot for a long time.
Precipitation, on the other hand, was erratic. Fields were inundated during the early months when farmers expected low rainfall, but rainfall was below normal during periods when rainfall helped moderate the heat. In Punjab, a farmer reported that his wheat yield had fallen by as much as 15% of his crop, which affected the availability and quality of cattle feed.
Sudhir Kumar Tyagi, who sources milk from farmers in Uttar Pradesh and supplies it to areas around New Delhi, said: capital.
“From March to September, milk production usually remains low, after which it increases again,” he added. “This year, however, the heatwave has dragged on and the summer milk production decline has increased by 10 to 15 percent.”
With extreme weather patterns putting pressure on all aspects of life, India has the great advantage of having a strong tradition of scientific research. At research institutes across the country, researchers have been searching for answers to questions long before they became public talk.
India has about 300 million cows. Nearly half of milk production comes from buffalo and just over a quarter from crossbred cows. These cows combine the resilience of indigenous cattle with the higher yields of European breeds. In recent decades, scientists have closely studied adaptability to rising temperatures as countries increased the proportion of crossbreds due to higher yields.
Hybrids are slower to adapt than buffaloes and indigenous cattle. Scientists at the National Dairy Research Institute found that April’s heat had only a minor impact on buffaloes, reducing hybrid production by about 11%. In contrast.
During a recent visit to Karnal’s 1,400-acre site with more than 2,000 animals, many water buffaloes were fed fresh feed.
“If you give them enough food, they won’t fight,” said AK Dang, a scientist at the institute. “Otherwise, like humans, they’re bossy. They’ll fight for it.”
In a small corner where research on the impacts of climate change is concentrated, there is a special room for testing animal behavior in environments with elevated temperatures. A new shrub from the northeastern state of Assam, believed to be high in protein, with a long harvest cycle and a short harvest cycle, is undergoing testing. I’m here. They developed a prototype of a tool that measures temperature and humidity and produces color-coded readings that help farmers know their animals’ stress levels.
Afterwards, dozens of cows were munching while flute music was played. Lord Krishna is often depicted with a flute and a cow in tow, an image that resonates with Hindus.
This music experiment is part of an effort to test all possible ways to reduce stress in animals. About a year and a half ago, when Dr. Ashutosh first started his research, “40 to 60 decimal places of sound are best,” he said. Cows from distant barns began to gather near the speaker shed.
“We added another speaker there,” said Dr. Ashutosh, who adapted research from scientists elsewhere. “We have to find ways to keep animals from being stressed. Only then can we make them resilient.”
Dr Ashutosh said it was clear that extreme climate shocks contributed to a significant decline in milk production under “normal scientific conditions”. But what that means for breast milk production in the real world depends on the type of stress-relief care given.
Large dairy farms can keep the heat cool with fans and water sprinklers, but the bulk of India’s dairy supply comes from small farmers who supply tens of thousands of village cooperatives. . A phased approach has revolutionized the Indian dairy industry over the past 50 years, but has slowed the uptake of new technologies and best practices for efficiency.
Dr Ashutosh said many farmers have taken extreme measures to protect their cattle, but water shortages are making it increasingly difficult. He lamented the decline of old heat-relieving mechanisms, such as village communal ponds that helped keep buffaloes and cows cool.
“Those old systems had emergency utilities,” he said. “But now we don’t have those facilities.”
Vijender Singh, a farmer from Mukari village in Uttar Pradesh, has three buffaloes and a cow. He said about 15 years ago, villagers took cattle to the banks of a nearby river during the warmer months.
“Now the river is so polluted that cows cannot go there,” he said. “Other village water bodies have also disappeared.”
This summer, he placed the cows in a covered courtyard and used fans to keep them cool and tried to bathe them twice a day.
“Heat and temperature directly affect milk production,” he said.