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By Devinder Sharma Around 1.5 billion marginal farmers in the developing world live in virtual penury. Simultaneously, 1.5 billion cattle in the industrialised world are reared in luxury, with a cow in the developed world receiving subsidies that amount to almost twice the annual income of an average Third World farmer
 It is a strange world. It is also an unequal world. The glaring inequality is not confined to the ever-widening gulf between the rich and poor, between the elite and the masses and between the people and the powers-that-be. There is also an inequality between cattle in western countries millions of farmers in developing countries. It is a strange paradox, the result of flawed economics and an imperfect development paradigm. The Indian farmer -- for that matter any of the 1.5 billion small and marginal farmers from the developing countries - owns on an average not more than two acres of land and still continues to feed himself and his family of five, year after year. He lives under a thatched roof or a tin roof, often with not even an electric fan, little or no sanitation facilities and no government support in the form of direct subsidies. Move the picture frame to a western farm. Whether in the United States, European Union or Australia, in the midst of the sprawling crop fields, you are likely to see a cattle farm. These cattle are well-fed and huge, with big, dangling udders. Take a peep inside the cattle sheds, and you will see a well-designed concrete structure fitted with tube lights, fans and showers. At most places, especially in the US and European Union, these barns are centrally heated. Computer chips worn around the necks of cows enable feeding machines to meet the exact nutritional requirement of each animal. Moreover, each cow requires about 25 acres of land on an average to meet its feed and nutritional needs - enough to enable ten farming families from the Third World to earn their livelihood.
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