Manu Regmi Koirala of Suryodaya Tole, Ratnanagar Municipality-12, East Chitwan, was selling up to 140 liters of milk daily until last Jestha. In the last 7 months, milk production has decreased to 70 liters daily.

Her production has decreased after the cows started showing problems such as not feeding, not giving milk, and infertility. Koirala, who has registered her Koirala Agriculture and Animal Farm and has been raising 11 cows and buffaloes, including 2 calves, is now worried about the rising costs and decreasing production. The buffalo that used to give up to 6 liters of milk has now given only 2.5 liters. She is in even more trouble after the cow she bought for Rs 85,000 has not fed even once. ‘I had to feed the cattle to keep them, but there is no production,’ Koirala lamented, ‘The problem has become even worse since the cow she bought at a high price has stopped giving milk.’ She makes feed at home and feeds them. She has planted Napier and 10 kaththas of jai grass on an area of ​​2 bighas near the cowshed. She buys rice husk and makes it into feed at home. The husk, which used to be available at Rs 8 per kg, now has to be bought for up to Rs 13. This has increased the cost and the production is decreasing.

Krishna Kumar Bhatta of Ratnanagar-12 is also facing the problem of infertility like Manu. Bhatta, who has been rearing cattle and buffaloes on a full-time basis for the past 5 years, laments that despite undergoing treatment for the cattle and buffaloes 10 times, they have not been successful. ‘I tried artificial insemination (AI) on one cow 12 times, but it has not been successful yet. The production has also decreased, and it is making them mentally weak,’ laments Bhatta.

Bhatta has 25 small and large cows and buffaloes in his cowshed. 6 of them are in the process of calving. Currently, they are selling 90 liters of milk daily. When there was no problem of infertility in cows and buffaloes, he was selling more than 150 liters of milk daily.

Tara Sapkota of Champanagar, Bharatpur Metropolitan City-13 is also facing the same problem. Sapkota, who has been raising 4 cows including 2 calves, has faced infertility problem in one cow for the first time. After the infertility problem was observed in his cow for 11 months, milk production has decreased. ‘Earlier, 25/30 liters of milk was produced daily, now it has come down to 10/15 liters, it is very difficult when a cow has many problems,’ Sapkota lamented.

Narayan Sapkota, who has been raising cows near his house for 12 years, is also forced to face the same problem. He has been raising 5 cows including 2 calves, but a similar problem has been observed in one cow since last October. He is producing 30 liters of milk daily.

This problem is now being faced by farmers across the district. After many farmers complained about the problem of infertility, the Chitwan District Dairy Producers Cooperative Association, an organization led by farmers, has started a door-to-door campaign to prevent infertility in cattle and buffaloes in collaboration with Heifer Project Nepal and all municipalities of Chitwan.

A team including a senior veterinary doctor has been deployed to treat the cattle and buffaloes at the cowshed. ‘When farmers’ cattle do not calve on time, vomit, or become infertile, the cost increases but the production decreases. To free farmers from this hassle, we have started a campaign to collect the names of farmers who have experienced this problem from each cooperative and go to the cowshed to treat them,’ said Chitwan District Dairy Producers Cooperative Association President Kishor Bagale.

He said that the association is working to eliminate infertility free of charge with the aim of protecting farmers by reducing costs and making more profits from animal husbandry. The association is also coordinating with the local government to make this campaign successful. Along with this, farmers are also being provided with climate-friendly good animal husbandry practices and management training.

A team including senior veterinary doctor Laxman Ghimire is going to the farmers' sheds and providing treatment. This team is going to the sheds of farmers with infertility problems in Khairhani, Rapti, Kalika, Ratnanagar and Bhatarpur Metropolitan City in East Chitwan and is providing treatment. ‘When examining the cattle, many problems were observed in the animals that were lacking in nutritious food, not being able to fill their stomachs, and experiencing a lack of grass. They became weak, became infertile, and did not come into heat, but some came into heat but did not survive,’ said Dr. Ghimire. ‘Such problems are also due to a lack of nutritious food, and some even had follicular cysts.’