Jabalpur: A state-run university in Madhya Pradesh has discovered a yummy alternative to fodder and cattle feed in the form of a chocolate. Researchers have said that the chocolate will help ramp up milk production and improve reproduction rate of livestock, an official said Friday.
After research of two months, the Jabalpur-based Nanaji Deshmukh Veterinary Science University has prepared a multivitamin and mineral-rich chocolate for cattle. It can be an alternate feed when there is a non-availability of green fodder, the university’s Vice-Chancellor professor SP Tiwari stated.
The university, with the help of the Madhya Pradesh Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department, will soon supply these chocolates to farmers across the state, Tiwari further said.
The university has plans to transfer the chocolate manufacturing technique to veterinary graduates who are willing to open a start-up unit for chocolate production. The chocolate will enhance milk production, reproductive growth and conception rate in cattle. It is rich in vitamins and protein, informed the university official. Cattle can consume the chocolate as it is and it can also be served with other feeds, Tiwari added.
Each piece of chocolate is around 500 gm and is prepared with ingredients traditionally used in cattle feed such as mustard cake, rice polish, molasses, starch, lime powder and common salt. Each piece will cost Rs 25.
The university has designed wooden moulds for production of these chocolate and 500 pieces have been manufactured so far. The university also has written to the Madhya Pradesh government and once it gets a go-ahead, the product will enter the market, Tiwari informed.
