Mysuru: In the State-level Milking Contest organised as part of Dasara by Raitha Dasara Sub-Committee and Department of Animal Husbandry at J.K. Grounds here yesterday, Prajwal Kumar of Udayagiri in Mysuru bagged the first prize by milking 37.2 kg from his cow in two shots — 17.05kg in the morning and 20.15kg in the evening.

Twelve people participated in the contest. Prajwal Kumar walked away with a cash prize of Rs.50,000 and a citation.

Giving away prizes to the winners, Minister for Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Venkat Rao Nadagouda asked farmers to include cattle-rearing and pisciculture along with agriculture to diversify their profession so that farmers need not have to take refuge in suicide when under dire straits. He added that the Government was providing a good price to farmers per litre of milk.

Owners of 20 cows had initially registered for the contest but dropped to 12 after 8 cows were disqualified to participate in    the contest.

The second prize of Rs. 40,000 was won by Satish Kumar milking 37kg, third prize of Rs.30,000 by Vinay Kumar and fourth prize of Rs.10,000 by Harshit Gowda, all from Bengaluru.

MyMUL President K.G. Maheshappa, Director Somashekar, Karnataka Fisheries Federation President Madegowda, Director Ramakrishna, State Veterinary Council Chairman Dr. Narendra, Gopalakara Sangha President Nagabhushan, Vice-President Gopi and others were present during the event.