Gaushala
Visitors to the eco-village farm project can take a tour of the gaushala and learn about the daily care of the cows, as well as the benefits of organic farming and sustainable living.
Gaushala: A Rural Development Initiative
A gaushala is a shelter or a sanctuary for cows, often operated by a charitable organization or a religious institution. In the new eco-village farm project at Asalgam, located on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, a gaushala has been established to provide a home to over 200 cows.
The gaushala is designed to be a sustainable and eco-friendly facility, with features such as solar panels, rainwater harvesting, and organic farming practices. The cows are kept in spacious and well-ventilated sheds, where they have access to clean water and nutritious feed.
The aim of the gaushala is to provide a safe and healthy environment for the cows, where they can live out their natural lives without being exploited for their milk or meat. In addition, the gaushala also serves as a center for education and awareness about the importance of cow protection and sustainable agriculture.
Visitors to the eco-village farm project can take a tour of the gaushala and learn about the daily care of the cows, as well as the benefits of organic farming and sustainable living. The gaushala is an integral part of the eco-village farm project, which seeks to promote environmental sustainability, animal welfare, and community development in the Asalgam area.
About the Project
This project is aimed at preserving the native breeds of cows of Indian origin, and to educate rural communities and urban population about benefits of these indigenous cattle. This project will house about 100 to 150 cattle in Phase 1, comprising of original native ‘Gir’ breed of cows and ‘Nandi’ breeding bulls. The project will also focus on economic benefits which can be derived from these cattle.
Major aspects of the project contains:
1. Efficient structural construction for cattle shed along with cattle feed stores.
2. Efficient designs to collect cow dung and cow urine from the sheds which has high potential to generate revenue.
3. Bio gas generation unit for sustainable growth.
4. Centre for making various products from cows to generate revenue and give consumers more natural and healthy products as an alternate to non-biodegradable products.
Service Initiative through the Project
1. Support for rural community:
a. This project is expected to create employment to villagers and upskill them to have their own enterprise in the future. At a given point in time, there would be about 15 – 20 men employed with decent wages and they learn all the aspects of Goshala integrated chemical-free farming.
b. This initiative is intending to organize frequent ‘cow health camps’ to help rural community to access the best medical aids at their neighborhood. Along with care for cows in the neighboring villages, these camps will also enhance the interest in farmers to keep cows and generate additional revenue. In the first phase of the project, we are aiming to organize 2 camps in a year. And we are expected to touch 100 families through this initiative.
2. Creating next generation farmers:
This aspect of the project is to transform the people in villages to be more efficient and scientific in their practices. We intend to educate\train them to make them better performers in what they are already doing.
a. Imparting trainings to the dairy farmers on:
- Good upkeep of cows.
- Good dairy practices
- Scientific approach to treat cows during medical emergencies
- Book keeping/ record keeping for better management and also to have better resale value for their cows
- Technology intervention
- Revenue generation by cow by-products.
- Increasing awareness among the farmers on effects of poisonous chemicals which they use in their farms
- Preparation of organic pesticides from cow products
- Multi-layer farming to increase the revenue of small scale farmers
- Scientific approach to preparation of composts
- Improving soil fertility and humus, hence increase the water holding capacity
- Bore well recharge and rain water harvesting
3. Educational farm visits:
This aspect of the project is to sensitize, educate, inspire, teach, train and guide young urban families, school children and college students how they too can learn principles and practices of natural farming. This initiative will have multiple objectives:
- To sensitize the urban population about the effort that goes behind producing what comes to their dining tables.
- To increase the respect and regard for the farmer community and farming profession among the urban population. To celebrate the unsung heroes of our society – the farmers who produce our daily food.
- To make farming a dignified and aspirational profession for the educated population.
- To sensitize the urban population about the health advantages of the chemical-free farming.
In first phase of the project, 50 such visits are planned in a year.
4. Programs for urban communities:
The project location, being away from the city and with lot of green covering will be a de-stressing location for hard working urban population. Hence, along with solace under the nature’s cover, they also will be educated on healthy life style and healthy habits.
- Conduct trainings on gardening for developing kitchen gardens/terrace gardens at their place.
- Training on domestic waste composting techniques to make own compost for terrace/kitchen gardening. This will also create the necessity for composting the organic domestic wastes, and hence, reduce organic waste accumulation in the cities.
- Support them with tools and items required for gardening
- Activities like farming and cow caring
