The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) recognised the bovine Mithun as a ‘food animal’, starting September 1, 2023.
Key points
- It will help farmers and tribal village communities benefit commercially from the sale and processing of mithun meat.
- On September 1, ICAR launched the M-ANITRA app to register mithun farmers as “buyers” and “sellers” with the aim to help them do business at competitive prices .
- The mithun, which goes by its scientific name Bos frontalis, is a ruminant species of the Bovidae family found in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.
- The slaughter of mithuns — an animal that has ritual significance and is also the state animal of both Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland — is traditionally reserved for special occasions, which has in present times come to also include feasts given by election candidates.
- Traditionally, the mithun is semi-domesticated and is reared in a free-range forest ecosystem. Mithun appears somewhat similar to that of Guar (Indian bison) but are smaller in size.
- It is believed to be the symbolic representative of peace and communal harmony. For the same reason, the ‘Soulung’ festival is observed annually by the Adi tribes of Arunachal Pradesh to commemorate the birth and arrival of mithun on this earth.
- The animal is sacrificed during such festivals at which time its meat is eaten .
