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According to the National
Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), cattle dung in India has a fuel value
equivalent to 35 million tonnes of coal or 68 million tonnes of wood. An estimated
one-third of the dung, amounting to some 300 million tonnes, is used
as fuel in rural houses. Another 340 million tonnes go back to the soil as organic fertilizer. The available energy from animal power is
estimated at around 60,000 million kilo-watt hours, valued at
between Rs 60,000 to 100,000 million from 70 million bullocks, 8 million buffaloes, one
million horses and another million camels. To generate this amount
of energy by modern industrial processes would cost three times as much. It is
estimated that animal power accounts for 66 per cent of the total energy utilized in India
as against only 14 per cent from other conventional sources such as coal. The contribution of the Indian cow to the survival
of the rural poor is indeed significant. No wonder, she is regarded as ‘sacred’
and ‘holy’!
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