Officials in northern India conducting medical research will purchase 1,300 gallons of cow urine to study its curative properties, according to the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
The bovine by-product is an important component of Ayurveda, an ancient system of medicine in southern Asia. Ayurvedic chemists already produce cosmetics, memory-enhancing pills and even aphrodisiacs made from cow urine, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The urine would be collected through a process involving 1,900 specially created cooperative milk networks.
Cow urine has the same potential to fight diseases such as cancer as modern Western medicine, said chemist Rakesh Bahuguna. Researchers plan to examine the "herbal rich" urine of 26 species of mountain cows and compare it to that of lowland animals, according to The Daily Telegraph.
In a country where Hindus regard cows as sacred animals, the provincial government is already creating a Cow Science and Technology Institute, The Daily Telegraph reported.
-CHRISTOPHER COTTRELL
