Thrissur :

The Vechur cow, a rare breed of Bos indicus cattle with an average length of 124 cm and height of 87 cm, is all set to join the elite club of the ‘micro-chipped livestock’ in the world on Monday as the authorities have made elaborate arrangements to tag the indigenous cattle species with pet microchips that uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.

The Vechur Conservation Trust, a body formed to conserve domestic animal diversity in the state, will officially begin the drive of electronically tagging Vechur cows and distributing the pedigree certificate to the owners of the cows at a function to be held in Kottayam on Monday.

Dr Sosamma Iype, Professor of Animal Breeding and Genetics, who is instrumental in popularising the Vechur breed in the country, said the Trust came forward with this venture of tagging the animals following widespread complaints of genetic pollution in the rare species of this local cow variety.

The unscrupulous middlemen in this sector have been promoting the sale of calves of Vechur cows that were bred with local ox varieties in the absence of enough Vechur cows because of the high demand for the indigenous cattle population among dairy farmers in the country. The introduction of micro-chipping and distribution of pedigree certificates will not only check the practice of genetic pollution,  but also serve as a tool to trace and isolate them in the event of a disease outbreak, said Dr Abraham Varkey, who assists the project.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Dhinesh Kallungal / January 26th, 2015