History · Agriculture · 7 min read

Mattupetty and the Swiss Cows of the High Range

Beside the reservoir at Mattupetty, Swiss-bred cattle graze on hill pastures. They are the legacy of a 1963 partnership between India and Switzerland that created a new breed, introduced frozen semen to India and helped transform dairy farming in Kerala.

By GK Global, Adimali, Munnar · Trails & Tales by GK

On the road from Munnar to Top Station, past the reservoir at Mattupetty, the tea gives way to green pastures where sleek brown and black cattle graze, looking as if they belonged in the Alps. They do, in a way. These are the herds of the livestock farm established by the Indo-Swiss Project, one of the most successful agricultural partnerships in India's history.

A partnership with Switzerland

In the early 1960s, Kerala produced little milk; most of its cattle were small local animals with low yields. Under an agreement signed in 1963, Switzerland provided expertise, funds and animals to help develop dairying in Kerala. The project chose Mattupetty, with its cool climate and grassland, as the site of its main farm.

Between 1964 and 1967, the project imported Brown Swiss bulls and cows from Switzerland. The bulls were crossed with local cows, and later with Jersey and Holstein-Friesian stock, to create a new synthetic breed combining the hardiness of local cattle with the milk yield of European breeds. The new breed was named Sunandini.

In 1965, the project produced India's first deep-frozen bull semen, allowing semen from the best bulls to be stored and used to breed cows across the state. This technology transformed cattle breeding in Kerala, and later in India.

A transformation in Kerala's dairying

The work of the Indo-Swiss Project, continued by the Kerala Livestock Development Board from 1976, helped turn Kerala into a state where most cows are crossbreds, and where milk production rose many times over in the following decades. Mattupetty became a model livestock village, and its semen bank still produces large numbers of doses every year for farmers across India.

Mattupetty today

The Mattupetty farm, about 13 km from Munnar town, is beside the Mattupetty reservoir, created by a dam built in the 1950s for hydroelectric power. The reservoir, with its boating and the nearby Echo Point, is one of Munnar's most popular sights, and wild elephants are often seen along its shores. The livestock farm can be visited with permission. (Read our Munnar sightseeing guide.)

The story of the Swiss cows is one of the less known chapters of Munnar's history, a reminder that the High Range was shaped not only by tea, but by many other experiments in farming and development. (Read also our history of Munnar and our introduction to Munnar.)