Jharkhand’s drought-hit villagers sell cattle due to scarcity of fodder

PALAMU - The villagers of drought-affected Jharkhand’s Palamu district are selling their cattle due to lack of fodder for the animals.

Villagers of Pandu, Chainpur, Chattarpur and Lesliganj villages are being forced to sell their cattle as fodder supplies have finished, and no more is being cultivated due to lack of rain.

“Cattle population was good here. Thousands of cattle were found in one area but due to lack of fodder, farmers are selling off their cattle,” said Ramu Prasad, a resident of Chainpur village.

People of the village were dependent more upon rice and jungle grass as fodder for their cattle but poor and scanty rainfall in the region has added to the misery of the farmers.

“This year, from the past one-and-a-half months, there is no rain. Grass has dried and some insects have infected the grass and due to this, there are a lot of problems faced by the people who graze their cattle. Ours is a very serious problem,” said Upendra Chaudhary, a villager.

Due to lack of food, the cattle have become feeble and farmers are not getting the good prices for them, either. By Girija Shankar Ojha (ANI)