SUTRA-PIC

SUTRA-PIC

• Recently, the Ministry of Science and Technology has launched the “Scientific Utilization through Research Augmentation-Prime Products from Indigenous Cows” (SUTRA-PIC India).
• It is one of the research programs into indigenous cattle announced during the 2019-20 Union Budget, which aims to develop products as well as improve the genetic quality of indigenous cattle breeds.

Key Points

• It is a collaborative effort of the Department of Biotechnology, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Ministry for AYUSH (Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Homoeopathy) and the Indian Council of Medical Research.
• The department of the Science for Equity, Empowerment, and Development (SEED), under the Ministry of Science and Technology, is in charge of the program.
• It can be noted that SEED had also constituted a National Steering Committee to initiate a National Programme on “Scientific Validation and Research on Panchagavya” (SVAROP) in 2017.
• The program consists of five themes:
• The uniqueness of Indigenous Cows,
• Prime-products from Indigenous Cows for Medicine and Health,
• Prime-products from Indigenous Cows for Agricultural Applications,
• Prime-products from Indigenous Cows for Food and Nutrition,
• Prime-products from indigenous cows-based utility items.
• The above themes aim to perform:
• Scientific research on the complete characterization of milk and milk products derived from Indian indigenous cows.
• Scientific research on nutritional and therapeutic properties of curd and ghee prepared from indigenous breeds of cows by traditional methods.
• Development of standards for traditionally processed dairy products of Indian-origin cows, etc.

Panchagavya

Panchagavya is an Ayurvedic panacea and is a mixture of five (Pancha) products of the cow (gavya)  milk, curd, ghee, dung, and urine. Its proponents believe it can cure, or treat a wide range of ailments.

Source: The Hindu