The Hindu's refuse to eat beef, and the cow is considered sacred (Harris). It is forbidden to kill a cow in the Hindu religion. Although this may seem extreme, there are many sensible explanations which explain how this prohibition probably arose. Farmers in India depend on oxen for planting, harvesting, and threshing their crops. They also use oxen for transportation, pulling carts holding people or goods. Cows are needed to produce bulls and oxen, and therefore need to be protected. Cows also provide milk, although most milk Indians use comes from the water buffalo, which produces a milk with a higher fat content.
Cows are allowed to roam through the streets in India and eat fruits and other goods at outdoor markets, particularly in times of drought when feed is scarce (Harris). Some farmers turn their cows loose in times of drought, and they are rounded up and kept in a local field. When the drought is over, they can be reclaimed by their owners. The Indian government maintains homes for barren cows until they recover, and if the cow appears to be giving milk, or is pregnant, the farmer will reclaim it. A sick cow is similarly placed in the field because it may recover and be able to produce offspring again. Male calves are particularly valuable because they become oxen, which are indispensable to farming. If a farmer loses his oxen, he cannot farm. If he loses his cow, he cannot produce anymore oxen.
Oxen and cows also produce dung, which is used for cooking and heating the home (Harris). It is a very inexpensive and efficient fuel, which burns slowly and is good for cooking the rice meals which are cooked slowly over dung fires. The cow is a very energy efficient animal when one takes into consideration the energy which has to be put into the system in terms of food, and the energy which is returned in terms of milk, dung, meat, leather, offspring and work. It returns 17 percent of the energy put into it ...