MADURAI: Pastoralists in Madurai region who are working for grassland conservation, climate finance mechanisms and climate-resilient agriculture to ensure seasonal open grazing for animal fraternity are going to be in Prime Minister Mr.Narendra Modi’s attention soon because the importance of manure and yield were highlighted in a top level field visit here.
A delegation from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations visited ‘Thozhuvam’ Farmer Producer Company Limited in Madurai district on July 15th 2026 to get a clear picture from the pastoral communities about their indigenous pastoral systems, grassland conservation, carbon markets and emerging opportunities in climate finance.
The field visit for FAO team was organized by MABIF team in collaboration with local partners and the team members went to Nilaiyur panchayat where the delegation had interacted with Pulikulam cattle herders, according to a press release received from Madurai-based ‘Thozhuvam’ here yesterday.
This visiting top level team comprised FAO-Indian Representative Mr.Krishnan Pallassana (senior specialist) and Climate Finance Specialist Mr.Vishal Rajeshwaran while the field visit was organized by Madurai Agribusiness Incubation Forum (MABIF) in association with ‘Thozhuvam FPCL’ where Mr.M.Manimaran, Tech Lead at ‘Thozhuvam’ had demonstrated the TNAUI Digital Platform and Grass Guards satellite monitoring system along with digital tools that are helping pastoral communities right now in Madurai region for monitoring rangelands, livestock management, ecosystem documentation etc.
The press release has further added that ‘Pulikulam’ cattle from Madurai region got the attention of this team because the native the ‘Pulikulam’ cattle breed herder Mr.Maikudi Murugan had explained about the centuries-old pastoral traditions of the pastoral grassland community in Madurai district.
FOR OUR ECOLOGICAL BALANCE:
“Our herders from Madurai had explained about how we are conserving the native Pulikulam cattle breed through seasonal open grazing across the grasslands of Madurai. These traditional grazing systems must continue in Madurai district and our surrounding areas to support ecological balance that supports biodiversity along with farmers’ livelihood,” Mr.P.Kabilan, pastoral bio-economist from ‘Thozhuvam’ movement from Madurai had appealed to the UN-FAO delegation on behalf of farmers and environment conservationists by explaining about the ecological importance of Madurai’s grasslands for protecting 40,000 Pulikulam cattle that are grazing now in Madurai region and thereby maintaining a healthy grassland ecosystem here.
“The FAO delegation had appreciated ‘Thozhuvam’s efforts in integrating indigenous pastoral knowledge with modern digital innovations. This expert team had discussions on restoring future grassland restoration, climate-resilient livestock systems, adaptation based on ecosystem, and community-led carbon market initiatives,” the press release has informed.
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