After 132 years of service, Indian Army formally closes down military farms

New Delhi, Apr 1: The Indian Army has formally closed down the Military Farms after 132 years of service in a formal closing ceremony on Wednesday. The farms were set up with the sole requirement of supplying hygienic cow milk to troops in garrisons across British India. The first military farm was raised on 1 February 1889 at Allahabad.

 

"All the officers and workers have been redeployed within the ministry to continue providing service to the organization," the Defence Ministry said on Wednesday (31 March).

 

 

According to the reports, the development comes as there were several recommendations in the the past to shut down the farms. In 2012, the Quarter Master General branch had recommended their closure and again in December 2016 by Lt Gen DB Shekatkar (retd) committee which was appointed to recommend measures to enhance combat capability and rebalance defence expenditure of the armed forces.

 

Military Farms were set up with sole requirement of supplying hygienic cow's milk to troops billeted in various garrisons across British India. First Military farm was raised on 01 Feb 1889 at Allahabad. After independence Military Farms flourished with 30,000 heads of cattle in 130 Military Farms all over India in varied Agro-climatic conditions.

 

 

Military Farms were even established in Leh and Kargil in late 1990s, with the role of supply of fresh and hygienic milk to troops at their locations on daily basis. Another major task was management of large tracts of defence land, production and supply of Baled Hay to animal holding units.

 

For more than a century Military Farms with their dedication and commitment supplied 3.5 crore ltr of milk and 25000 MT of hay yearly. It is credited with pioneering the technique of Artificial Insemination of cattle and introduction of organised Dairying in India, providing yeoman service during 1971 war, supplying milk at the Western and Eastern war fronts as well as during Kargil operations to the Northern Command.

 

 

In collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, they established "Project Freiswal", credited to be the world's largest cattle cross-breeding program. They also teamed up with DRDO in the development of Bio-Fuel.