Insured against heat

States and private firms are implementing insurance schemes fo protect livestock rearers against milk production losses caused by heat stress

- SHAGUN AND KA SHAJI

On the evening of April 29, T Subaida from Adikattukulangara village village in Kerala's Alappuzha district discovered her only Jersey cow dead in its shed. Initially suspecting poisoning from grazing on nearby vacant land, a post-mortem revealed the cow had succumbed to heat stroke.

The loss had a huge financial impact on Subaida, who relied on selling milk to sustain her household during non-farm seasons.

In contrast, livestock farmer Mali Ram Sharma from Ghinoi village in Jaipur, Rajasthan, feels more secure despite the unusually hot April and May. "For the first time, I have taken out insurance this year, which promises fixed compensation if the milk production of my livestock dips due to high temperatures," says Sharma. Noticing a steady decline in milk yield during the peak summer months over the past five years, Sharma decided on insurance. "A cow in my village usually produces 20 litres of milk a day.

In the current heat, the yield has dropped to just 16 litres," he says, adding that his insurer, a private Patna-based agritech company called DeHaat, which started cattle insurance for the first time this April, will calculate the compensation amount in mid-July.

India is experiencing intense heat stress this year, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) reporting heatwaves in 14 states and Union Territories in April, and in 24 in May. Unusual temperatures have become a recurring problem for the country, which has recorded 12 of its warmest years since 1901 in the past 15 years.