IPB students win cow's observation contest

A group of three students of Husbandry Faculty at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) won a dairy cow's observation contest.

The contest was held on May 30 and 31 at Lembang Resort, West Java, in conjunction with National Milk Day that fell on May 31.

Pria Sembada, Angga Prasetya and Reiza Rizki won the group category of the contest that attracted dozens of participants, mostly university and high school students. Pria also won the dairy cow observation contest in the individual category.

In the contest, the participants had to choose the healthiest dairy cows using indicators in their observation such as the height and weight of the mammal as well as the condition of the udders.

"We have to be accurate in the observation," said Pria.

IPB Husbandry Faculty dean Luki Abdullah said that the contest was important to find reliable inspectors as there were only few existing in the agricultural industry.

"The cow inspection subject is taught for two semesters in our faculty so students can choose healthy and productive cattle. The knowledge can save a lot of the state reserves since we still import cattle. It can also reduce the number of cattle deaths that occur with no apparent causes," he said.