Economy - The Demand of Future

E’COW’NOMY is simply a patch work in two different English words; ‘Economy’ & ‘COW’. This term ‘Ecownomy’ symbolizes an economy which is powered by cows.

For millennia, cow has been central to the Indian economy, life and culture. There are innumerable references-Vedic and subsequent to the sacred significance of cow. The benefits of cow have been described at length in relation to agriculture, environment, health, economy and spiritual progress. However, the socio-political issues surrounding the cow as a sacred animal have raised acrimonious debates.

Cow in Agriculture

Cows dung is a most important source of bio-fertilizer and used in many developing countries for generating energy. It is a very effective alternative to chemical fertilizers by enhancing productivity in the long term while maintaining soil health and enhances the microbial population.
Cowdung manure and vermicompost increases soil organic matter content, and this leads to improved water infiltration and water holding capacity as well as an increased cation exchange capacity. It is one of the renewable and sustainable energy resources through dung cakes or biogas which replace the dependence upon charcoal, fuel wood, firewood and fossil fuel etc. Beside it, application of cow dung in a proper and sustainable way can enhance not only productivity of yield but also minimizing the chances of bacterial and fungal pathogenic disease.

There are a variety of cow dung and cow's urine products, which can be used as fertilizers and pest repellent respectively in agricultural practice.
Low soil fertility is one of the greatest biophysical constraints to production of agroforestry crops across the world (Ajayi, 2007). Cow dung is a very good source for maintaining the production capacity of soil and enhances the microbial population. But due to increasing population pressure and demand of food resources, there is a need of introducing a chemical fertilizer, pesticides and insecticides to the soil, which are disturbing the soil physio-chemical properties including soil texture, porosity, and water holding capacity and also disturbed the soil microbial population.

Therefore, improper use of cow dung should be stopped and should only be applied in the farmland instead of chemical fertilizers, so that the productivity and sustainability of soil could be maintained which will increase the production capacity of food treasure (Bargali, 2004).

So now let us compare these systems factually with a rational consumerist approach.

The cost of chemical fertilizers
Urea= 900/bag (45kg)
DAP, NPK= 1500/bag(45kg)


The cost of Cow-Manure
Rate of bio manure production-
35 Kg Bio Manure per 1 Kg Cow Dung
Rate of production on daily basis
Dung of 1 cow/day=10kg
Total production by 1 Cow =350kg Bio manure

Cow in Energy

India has great potential to produce biogas to meet its energy demands. This paper presents a brief study of advantages, opportunities and, the challenges behind the proliferation of biogas technology in India.
The production process of biogas from anaerobic digestion of biodegradable feedstock such as animal dung, food waste and biomass has been explained.
Based on the energy requirement of a family, required cattle dung as input feedstock has been calculated. Design and construction of the proper size and type of biogas plant to increase the energy efficiency, and to decrease the implementation and maintenance cost have been explained.
An average lactating cow or buffalo in India emits around 200 litres of methane per day, while it is 85-95 litres for young growing heifers and 20-25 litres for adult sheep.
1 L Methane = 79.63 INR
Total Daily Income = 6500 INR
Total Yearly Macro Expense= USD 62.2 billion

Cow in Health

There is a great significance of cows in the health welfare.
The major gifts of cows are Milk, Curd, and Ghee which are considered as the best health tonics and health booster.

Panchgavya, the combination of five components given out by cows These five components are Milk, Curd, Ghee, Gomay and Gomutra
The special compositions of these Panchagavya are used to develop different medicines having edge over the cure of deadliest diseases like Cancer, Tuberculosis, Kidney Disorders, Chronic Skin Disorders.
In Ayurveda, there is a long tradition of using cow products for positive health, pharmaceutical processes and therapeutics. There have been quite a few studies on the activity, efficacy, safety and acceptability of Panchagavya and other cow products.
Paradoxically, many cow products available in the market for human consumption require improved standardization and proper regulation.

Integration of cowpathy (Govaidyak) in traditional Indian systems of medicine has been natural, based on their common dravyaguna vigyan. But if its integration with conventional medicine is contemplated, we will need a better understanding of the ingredients of cow products, their pharmacokinetics, phar-macodynamics and therapeutic ratio. A rational beginning can be made by data collection of experiential and anecdotal responses. A meticulous analysis of databases of panchgavya and other cow products should look for temporal relationships, biological plausibility and translational potential before embarking on state-of-the-art experimental and clinical studies for selected indications.

The Rajiv Dixit Case

I must introduce one great personality Sri.Rajiv Dixit, who fought against slaughtering, foreign brands of food, importing of inorganic products.
In 1998, Akhil Bharatheey Gou Sevak Sangh and Ahimsa Army Trust litigated against slaughtering in the High Court. After many fights, the Govt of Gujarat has agreed with Rajiv Dixit and handed him support.
As a result, Rajiv Dixit has successfully won the case and the Court has asked. Due to the similar facts, the rearing of cows (even in drought conditions) was proved to be more economical than abundening or slaughtering them.
As a result, on 26/10/2005, the Supreme Court declared that Slaughtering Cow or Bullocks is a Constitutional crime as well as crime over rights of religion. And also, the court concluded that Saving Cow or Bullocks is a duty of every citizen of India