Members of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) agreed on Wednesday on cattle breeding rules, its first ever deal on livestock production.

The deal, approved by OIE's 178 members apart from South Africa, includes measures such as ensuring cattle beefs' health, breeding environment, genetic selection, Director General Bernard Vallat told reporters at the 80th General Assembly.

After last year’s failed rainfall dried up most wells and the depeleting water table drove the hand pumps to a trickle, farmers in the nearly 200 villages in Mann and Khatav talukas in Satara are now struggling to save their cattle. While both farmers and their livestock await government relief with parched throats, help it seems is lost somewhere in the not-so-unusual ways of bureaucracy and procurement glitches by local officials.

Baramati: In a region where farmers either work in the fields or breed cows, milk production is the indicator for the impact of the drought on the latter section. Many dairy farmers in Baramati’s so-called dry zone have sold their cows in the absence of enough water to feed them but, because of the complexity of the equations involved, supply does not reflect whatever effect that has had on production.

Baramati is divided 40:60 between the green zone of agriculture and the dry zone where water is always short and where dairy farming is the primary source of livelihood.

Bangalore: Power struggle, politicking and blame game are keeping state BJP leaders busy. And there is no one to pay attention to the problems faced by drought-hit people in the districts. The chief minister, his colleagues and party legislators should have been helping out people of 123 drought-affected taluks. Instead, they have camped in New Delhi and Bangalore and are happily engaged in mudslinging and power-grabbing.

Chandigarh: Introduced barely three months ago, sexed semen which helps dairy farmers get only female calves from their cows is already a rage. The state had imported 5,000 sexed semen straws from the US three months ago under a pilot project. There is a demand for more even as farmers are scurrying to get hold of the last few remaining semen straws.

KOIDA (SUNDARGARH): Forced by declining returns from farming in ecologically fragile areas and virtually no regular labour-intensive jobs, several villagers have been taking to goat farming -- goatery. Goats ensure income to nearly 25 families of Bahamba village in Koida block.

For these extremely poor families in the Maoist-infested block it was a modest beginning to make ends meet with the help of Barsuan Iron Mines (BIM) of SAIL.

PHULBANI: The only milk chilling plant here, established 17 years back, is kaput due to multiple reasons. In 1995, the plant with storage capacity of 4,000 litres was established at a cost of ` 30 lakh on the outskirts of Phulbani town. The aim was to trade surplus milk produced by local dairy farmers. The plant was managed by district milk union, that was formed by 28 registered primary milk producers co-operative societies of the district.

With 2% of cattle population in the country, Punjab contributes 8% to total milk output
Chandigarh: Punjab, which has for long been known as the food bowl of the country, could now be termed as its milk bowl too. The state has not only topped the country in average milk production of buffaloes by beating Haryana, but also in average milk production from Holstein Friesian and even non-descript animals.