Mithun

Mithun

News: Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has recognized Mithun as a ‘food animal’.

How will it help?
• The move will help farmers and tribal village communities as they can now sell mithun meat for commercial purposes. Previously, mithuns and their meat were sold only for very special occasions such as festivals or weddings.

About Mithun:
• Scientific name - Bos frontalis
• Mithun is a ruminant species of the Bovidae family found in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. It is also the state animal of both Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
• Mithun is semi-domesticated and is reared in a free-range forest ecosystem. The animal is usually let loose in a community forest and
has rarely required shelter or supplementary feeding except for salt. Since the soil in these parts is acidic and low in salt content, mithuns have an affinity for salt and are known to lick it off the hands of the farmers.
• As of 2019, there are around 3.9 lakh mithuns in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.
• Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has launched the MANITRA app to register mithun farmers as “buyers” and “sellers” with the aim to help them do business at competitive prices.