Cow urine marketed as virtually cost free organic fertiliser and pesticide

AP Television Kenichira , Wayanad , Kerala, India, September 5, 2012 1. Various of cows walking on road 2. Wide of cows entering cowshed AP Television Kenichira , Wayanad , Kerala, India, September 4, 2012 3. Wide of man running to collect cow urine in bucket; collecting urine; walking towards barrel 4. Mid of man collecting cow urine in a bucket 5. Close of bucket; zoom out to man carrying it 6. Wide of man pouring cow urine into barrel 7. Various of cows in cowshed 8. Various of man collecting cow dung with spade; putting it in wheelbarrow 9. SOUNDBITE: (English): Joseph Matthew, Professor, Kerala Agricultural University: "Cow urine and cow dung - these are the two items which give life to the soil...because that promotes the bacterial count...the bacterial organisms in the soil, which in turn augments the fertility of the soil." AP Television Kenichira , Wayanad , Kerala, India, September 5, 2012 10. Mid of farmer adding tap water to jaggery 11. Close of mixture 12. Low angle tracking shot of farmer walking holding two buckets; placing buckets on ground 13. Mid of farmer pouring mixture into container 14. Close of contents of container being stirred with wooden stick 15. Low angle shot of farmer pouring mixture over vegetation 16. SOUNDBITE: (Malayalam): Babu Thomas, farmer: "This is an economical option without any external farm inputs. I use urine and dung of just one cow, which has all the necessary micro-organisms to enrich the farm." AP Television Kenichira , Wayanad , Kerala, India, September 4, 2012 17. Wide of exterior of Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University 18. Mid of sign saying Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University 19. Various of cow urine being poured into a bottle using a funnel 20. Various of labels being pasted onto bottles 21. Mid of packaged cow urine in bottles 22. Close of label saying "Cow urine" 23. Wide of man purchasing cow urine; leaving AP Television Kenichira , Wayanad , Kerala, India, September 5, 2012 24. Wide of farmer Chembakappara Chacko Thomas adding cow urine and water to spray container 25. Close of cow urine being poured 26. SOUNDBITE: (English): Chembakappara Chacko Thomas, farmer: "Here I don't use any pesticides. Here I only use organic pest control. So cow urine is excellent. One litre of cow urine you can mix with ten litres of water, it can give a whole year's worth of spray. That is very good. That gives a repellent for the insects." 27. Mid of man spraying organic pesticide on plants 28. Close of nozzle of spraying mechanism 29. Wide of man spraying pepper plant 30. Close of peppercorns LEADIN A veterinary university in India is marketing bottled cow urine as both a bio-fertiliser and bio-pesticide. The product is being targeted at the organic sector where farmers are looking for alternatives to chemical fertilisers. STORYLINE: Millions of India's Hindus revere the cow as a holy animal. Cow milk and its products are widely used during religious rituals. The rearing of cows has always been central to farming in the southern Indian state of Kerala, but cows in this predominantly agrarian state are no longer seen as just a source of milk. By-products like cow urine and dung are increasingly being used to boost agriculture. Faced with high input costs, dwindling farmland and climate change, farmers in the Wayanad district have taken to organic farming by using cow urine and cow dung instead of chemical fertilisers. The cow urine is collected, mixed with other natural ingredients like cow dung and used as a fertiliser. Since this kind of farming requires no monetary investment for fertilisers and plant protection chemicals, it is called zero budget farming. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/95ff2a4e3e8d1a75be3eadf37109778c Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork