Indian Cows (and Buffaloes) Are Going Online

A new breed of startups wants to formalise cattle trading. The Economist: Livestock fairs, where most animals are still bought and sold, can be expensive and chaotic. Farmers shell out entry fees to register their beasts. They must pay for labourers to load and unload the animals, as well as for transport to and from the fair. They worry about cattle thieves. Making a sales pitch to every prospective customer takes a toll in the heat. And if your cows find no buyers, you must go through the whole rigmarole again, complains Anil Renusay, another cattle farmer in Vajeghar. Then there is fraud, says Satish Birnale, who rears buffaloes in Sangli, a small western city. Some traders inject their animals with steroids. Horns are often polished "as if the cows have just been to a beauty parlour," he says. "It's like searching for a bride in an arranged marriage. We have to be careful and not go just by the looks." Firms like Pashushala and Animall claim to have solved such problems with a system of checks, including a nod from a local veterinarian. Animall requires sellers to upload videos and pictures of their cattle, and provide details not just of breed or age, but also past pregnancies, how much milk they provide and so on. A team calls every user to verify the information. Ads with blurry photos or listings with pictures taken from the internet are swiftly removed. A close-up of the cow's udders is important. So are comments by the farmer about the animal's temperament. In one video a seller croons, "Beautiful! Oh, look at those singhs (horns)". It is not a new pitch. But it is now easier and cheaper to make.

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