00:00 - Stray cattle
00:42 - Indigenous Cattle in India
01:17 - Introduction to Hetha Organics
01:50 - Advantages of Indigenous Cows
02:15 - Difference between A1 and A2 milk
03:52 - Ethical Milking of cows?
06:20 - Ethnoveterinary or traditional Medicines
08:00 - Standardization
08:37 - Epilogue

Cows streaked with vermillion on their heads is a common sight in India, but so are cows sauntering through traffic-choked streets, scrounging about heaps of garbage. (1)India has over 5 million stray cattle which has made attacks on humans and crops quite common. There are 37 recognised and several unrecognized cattle breeds in India, but over the past couple of decades, their condition deteriorated considerably as European breeds started being valued more. But why?
(1)According to the 20th Livestock Census released in January 2020
On the outskirts of New Delhi, behind an unassuming gate which is surrounded by narrow streets lies a sprawling farm with 800 cows by the odd name of Hetha Organics, run by Aseem Singh Rawat.*freeze frame and animate Aseem’s name with a curved arrow
What is so special about a dairy farm in a country with the largest bovine population in the world? Aseem only rears indigenous or desi cows at Hetha. India’s surplus milk production can be traced back to the 1970s when the milk revolution started. Milk of hardy, indigenous breeds started mixing with western breeds like Jersey or Holstein. Today, as milk production is at its peak, the industry has also become extremely prone to adulteration in different forms. It wasn’t until the 2010s that research proved that A2 milk produced by indigenous cow breeds is nutritionally superior to A1 milk. Even though we consume dairy products extensively, rarely do we think about WHERE our milk comes from and its impact on our bodies.
Hetha practices ‘ethical farming’, where half the milk is reserved for the calf. Productivity-wise, while this might seem like an unwise practice for a relatively new business, Aseem feels depriving a calf of its mother’s milk is not only cruel but a very short sighted way of looking at things. To build healthy progeny, every calf needs its rightful share of the mother’s milk which will eventually lead to a flourishing dairy farm. Another aspect of ‘ethical’ farming is also taking care of cattle once they are past their prime which unfortunately a lot of farmers cannot afford, primarily due to rising fodder prices. Hetha looks after their cows and bulls throughout their lifetime at their Nandishala. While the priority remains running a successful enterprise, it is steeped in the philosophy of respecting the animals who selflessly give to their owners. When a farmer raises a Jersey cow in India for example, apart from not being able to bear the heat, it also becomes prone to diseases. So farmers use antibiotics extensively to maintain their cattle. But Hetha mostly uses ethno-veterinary medicines from Ayurveda, a healing practice which originated in the Indian subcontinent. These are cheaper, more sustainable and prevent antibiotic resistance.

In a world where we are no longer constrained to using only ‘local’ products, we sometimes overlook the price we are paying for this standardization.Ironically, as several nations like Australia and New Zealand have moved to A2 milk found in indie breeds, we continue to rear western cows because they produce MORE milk. As local varieties of things, right from seeds to clothes get shadowed by industrial production, it becomes all the more important to preserve the uniqueness of indigenous breeds not only because of nutritional benefits for human beings but also to maintain a balance in the ecosystem that these animals have been thriving in for centuries.

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