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Oxytocin use in cattle rampant in WB
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Saturday, 01 April, 2006, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Sabyasachi Samajdar, Kolkata
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tance injected by the cattle farmers of West Bengal for increasing the milk yield from their cattle. Though the chemical is banned for veterinary use, it is easily available in the veterinary medical outlets of the state. The milk thus produced are reaching Bhagirathi Co-operative Milk Feeder Dairy through the 460 Village Milk Co-operatives of the region. Bhagirathi, situated at Berhampore, 200 km from Kolkata, is the highest milk collection centre in the state.
Bhagirathi Co-operative Milk Feeder Dairy, having its own milk and milk products under the brand name "Bhagirathi," is the market leader in milk products like ghee and paneer. Its chilling plant having an installed capacity of 1.5 lakh litres per day collects 1.34 lakh litres per day and sells 10,000 litres per day under its own brand name "Bhagirathi," and rest of the collected milk is supplied to other government subsidiaries or co-operatives.
The members/cattle farmers of these 460 village milk co-operatives are injecting Oxytocin hormones into their cows so that they could get more milk from the cattle. This is happening in spite of the strict guideline from the quality control department of Bhagirathi prohibiting use of such hormonal drugs into the cattle. This happens because the quacks in the veterinary field continue to prescribe this drug for cattle, it is learnt.
"We use Oxytocin for more milk. It is easily available in the market. The cost of the drug is 50 Amp's at the rate of Rs 65," said a cattle farmer of Murshidabad village who is a member of the village milk co-operative.
A quick verification at the veterinary medicine shop at Berhampore town found that Oxytocin injection (meant for use in humans) is available in almost all the veterinary medicine shops in the town.
Food & Beverage News also managed to purchase a box of 1ml.x 50 Amp's Oxytocin at the rate of Rs 65 (Batch No.246, Mfg. date - March 2005) from one such shop.
When sought his comments, Dr Kartik Chandra Dey, Murshidabad District Veterinary Officer, said that he didn't know anything about it. He only used the drugs which the government had authorised him. However, he acknowledged that some quack village doctors used these drugs.
He also acknowledged that local veterinary medicine shops sold this kind of hormonal drugs.
"If an individual cattle farmer uses Oxytocin we have no such power to prevent him from this act because we don't have such infrastructure to check every cattle farmer in the remote villages," Dr Dey added.
"We don't have any checking facility for hormonal drug residues in the milk in our plant," S K Bagchi, Asst. Superintendent, Marketing, Bhagirathi Co-operative Milk Feeder Dairy, told Food & Beverage News. Bagchi agreed that the milk may cause some health problems to human beings.
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