00:01Pulikulam bulls are best known from Tamil Nadu's controversial Jallikata festival
00:06where young men aim to catch and hold on to the bulls for prizes.
00:12They were once at the centre of the rural agrarian economy,
00:16used primarily as drought animals.
00:18But with the advent of modern farming and motorised machinery,
00:23demand has dwindled and so has the ecology linked to rearing these indigenous bulls.
00:31We now face problems wherever we go.
00:34We're told not to herd our cattle on common land or to use water from public ponds.
00:39They say the fish will die.
00:41But where else can we take these 1,000 head of cattle?
00:45It's a constant uphill battle.
00:49Far from their image is enraged animals.
00:52Most Pulikulam bulls spend their day grazing quietly, if left alone.
00:56But they need open grazing lands with plenty of grass,
01:01something that is increasingly harder for the herds to access.
01:05That inspired 47-year-old computer science professor P. Kabilan
01:09to start the organisation Toruwam to support pastoralists.
01:15The root causes development, a rapid increase in major roadways,
01:20has led to the migratory pastoral paths being disrupted.
01:26As the government has taken over grazing lands for its development projects,
01:30pastoral lands have shrunk.
01:33Then, in addition to that, real estate players have begun fencing off
01:38and restricting the pathways livestock has used for generations.
01:42That's why the farmers will die.
01:47Back on the local farmer's land, Kumar and his wife are setting up for the night.
01:53Kumar uses the last light of day herding the bulls together.
02:00They will stay here overnight, leaving a fresh layer of dung on the soil by morning.
02:07The cooperation between farmers and pastoralists protects livelihoods
02:12and delivers fresh organic fertiliser directly to farms,
02:16a practice known in Tamil as Khedai.
02:18The growing demand for organic produce has been a ray of hope for Dr. Kabilan
02:24and pastoralists like Kumar.
02:27Organic farmers like Setupati say the results have been strong.
02:34When you conduct agriculture with Khedai cattle,
02:37you don't need to provide any extra materials or any other natural inputs to that field.
02:43We've witnessed this ourselves.
02:46A perfect example is this Tillan Ayagam rice field.
02:50Until two years ago, the farmer had been using Khedai.
02:54Now, from what he has, he has put nine cartloads of cattle dung into it.
02:58That alone has worked as fertiliser for this space.
03:03Dr. Kabilan's Torivam NGO connects herders to farmers
03:07who pay a fee for the organic manure.
03:12Extra dung is then sold to renewable energy companies or other farmers in southern India.
03:20A renewable energy firm used it in some of their bio-CNG units with success.
03:25They even asked about exporting it to the Maldives.
03:28With progress like this, pastoralists won't give up on the cattle.
03:31The UN has declared 2026 the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.
03:38In Tamil Nadu, it also marks the launch of Grass Guards,
03:43a new initiative with 200 volunteers working alongside pastoralists,
03:48in coordination with Torivam to protect grasslands.
03:53Deforestation is not only cutting down trees.
03:56Erasing these grasslands is also deforestation.
04:00The wild grasses provide a home for all kinds of species,
04:03from bees to larger birds.
04:06Do you know how many of the various species nest in the grasses?
04:09If the grasslands disappear, where will they go?
04:11And it's not just insects and birds.
04:14Small animals, like foxes, also rely on these grasses,
04:17because there are rats roaming here,
04:20and the small foxes come out to hunt them.
04:25As the world marks the year of pastoralists,
04:28Tamil Nadu's herders are forging a new path through uncertain times.
04:32By organising to protect their livelihoods and grasslands,
04:36they hope to not just survive, but to thrive in a fast-changing world.
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