The Chairman of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has expressed concerns for animal welfare over the proposed IFFCO Kisan SEZ (special economic zone).

Responding to a FIAPO (Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations) petition, the board, has in a letter to the promoters of a mega dairy planned in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, raised questions about the establishment of mega dairies as such dairy systems are prone to several environmental and animal welfare risks.

AWBI, a statutory body on animal welfare laws, has sought the details of the project to help it assess the animal welfare implications of the mega dairy.

A consortium of IFFCO, the New Zealand-based dairy company, Fonterra, and an Indian company called Global Dairy Health are developing a mega dairy as part of IFFCO’s SEZ. Reports suggest that the consortium will import 9,000 high-yielding pregnant cows from New Zealand over a three-year period. There are also plans to import frozen embryos and semen for subsequent breeding, a press release said.

In such mega dairies, cows are typically kept almost exclusively indoors with little or no access to natural surroundings. Cows farmed intensively like this are bred to produce unnaturally large amount of milk which can make them more susceptible to health problems such as lameness, poor body condition and infertility, it said.

To maintain these excessive yields of milk without damage to their health they have to be fed an unnaturally concentrated diet which leaves them little time for grazing.

“Unfortunately, Indian standards lag behind those of some developed nations, and progressive animal welfare standards are not being implemented by foreign companies in Indian markets. This is unfair to Indian consumers, as most of us would prefer products with high animal welfare standards,” the FIAPO said.

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