Kannur Terriers to recruit 20 cows

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Guess who’s getting ‘recruited’ into the Territorial Army next? Twenty cross-bred cows. The 122 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) under the Madras Regiment, aka ‘Kannur Terriers,’ is venturing into dairy farming with the state government help. “The aim is two-fold; TA is a citizen’s army and when the men go back, they do so learning a vocation. Second, we can use the milk here,” Commanding Officer of the unit Col B S Bali said. The Kannur-based unit is joining forces with the State Animal Husbandry Department for its dairy campaign. The department will provide the animals and state-run Kerala Livestock Development Board (KLDB), the technical expertise for establishing a mechanised farm. Animal Husbandry director R Vijayakumar and KLDB managing director Ani S Das had paid a visit to Kannur recently to work out details. Animal Husbandry Minister K P Mohanan called the initiative a part of his department’s efforts to get the organised sectors interested in dairying. “They have the manpower, and they are ready to take up the job, which is a welcome thing.”“The advantage of Armed Forces units setting up dairy farms is that they have land. So fodder is not a problem and that makes the project sustainable,” Ani S Das said.TA is primarily a reserve force comprising civilian volunteers who have a penchant for the uniform.‘Kannur Terriers,’ the only TA unit in the state, had grabbed headlines after inducting actor Mohanlal as a Lieutenant-Colonel (Honorary) as part of attracting fresh blood. And it’s not just the TA that’s ‘eyeing’ cows. Dairy farms will soon be started at the central prisons in Kannur and Poojappura - both joint ventures by the state animal husbandry, jail and dairy development departments. Poojappura will get 20 cows as well as a poultry farm with 500 chickens, animal husbandry officials said.