The National Dairy Research Institute is planning to conduct scientific tests on the urine of indigenous cows to find out whether it is beneficial for humans, and if it is superior to that of foreign and mixed breeds, the Hindustan Times reported today.
"Yes, we have ordered a review and the scientists are collecting details related to cow urine. The papers will be submitted in 10 days," NDRI director AK Srivastava told HT. "Several researches had been conducted... Some even claim there is gold in cow urine, but we will conduct our own research," he told the newspaper.
While many Hindus regard cows as sacred, there are also those believe that cow urine have medicinal properties which can cure several diseases including cancer.
Earlier this year, scientists at the Junagadh Agricultural University, who analysed urine samples of 400 Gir cows, found traces of gold ranging from three mg to 10 mg from one litre urine.
In July, Bloomberg reported that various schemes to protect and promote cows have gained impetus since the Modi government came to power in 2104, and this, in turn, has triggered public interest in cow-related products including its urine. In fact, the bestselling product of Baba Ramdev endorsed Patanjali is cow urine-based floor-cleaner.
While urging the Karnal-based NDRI to take up the research, Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Sudarshan Bhagat said that people would not abandon their cows once they had stopped producing milk if they were made aware of the other benefits as well.
"No doubt the milk of our cows is better than those of other breeds, but we did not work on urine. Let's see what comes out," Somvir Singh of the National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture told HT.
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