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How farmers can milk dairy farming to double their income
Milk yield is up, payment for milk is on time and animals have an assured source of quality feed supply from Hatsun Agro’s own feed plant, says A Paneerselvam, a dairy farmer in Tirupur District.
He has over 50 cows on his farm and is among the four lakh farmers in 10,000 villages supplying milk to Hatsun Agro which has operations spread across South India.
Farming operations
Paneerselvam is explaining some aspects of the farming operations to Atul Chaturvedi, Secretary, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development, Government of India.
Chaturvedi was on a tour of Hatsun Agro’s facilities, including farms that supply it milk and the company’s feed factory, on Wednesday.
Paneerselvam said payment for milk is prompt and is made once in 10 days. Depending on the quality of milk, he gets an average of ₹31 a litre paid directly into his bank account.
Company officials explained that Hatsun Animal Information Service, a software that also sends out messages to farmers on the animals’ status, helps keep track of veterinary services including artificial insemination.
Hatsun has tagged over 6.2 lakh milch animals that account for about 70 per cent of the cows supplying milk to the company. The rest are also being tagged. This helps to keep track of the animals’ performance, including yield and health condition for delivery of veterinary care.
They said payments to all farmers are being made directly into their bank accounts since 2014.
Hatsun Agro, the largest private sector dairy company in India, is on track to being a ₹5,400-crore company in the current year with its turnover in the vicinity of ₹2,700 crore in the first half.
It handles over 35 lakh litres of milk daily and has a diverse product range — liquid milk under the brand name Arokya, the largest domestic milk brand, and Hatsun; dairy products, including curd, ghee, paneer under the Hatsun brand; and, ice creams under Arun and Ibaco brands.
Government drive
In an interaction following the farm visit, Chaturvedi said the government wants to encourage private investments in dairy sector. It sees the sector as a key to meeting its target of doubling farmers’ income. The livestock sector is growing at about 8 per cent per year which is comparable with that of manufacturing and services sectors, which are growing at about 8.5 per cent. Livestock sector is one of the ‘growth areas’ in terms of developing rural economy and employment generation.
He said he is studying some of the successful models in dairy farming and the visit to Hatsun Agro’s facility was a part of it.
RG Chandramogan, Managing Director, Hatsun Agro Product Ltd, said 66-68 per cent of the price of milk goes to farmers as procurement price which is among the highest globally. In the US dairy farmers get about 25 per cent. Dairy farming is a crucial source of liquidity to farmers with predictable cash flows.
Earthworms, Key To Double Farmers Income, Claims Giriraj Singh
The minister has worked out a plan on where these four animals will come from.
New Delhi:
The Narendra Modi government has sought to take help of earthworms for its ambitious project to double the farmers' income in the country in the next few years.
The Ministry for Fisheries and Animal Husbandry has worked out a formula to double the farmers' income, generate employment and ensure that there would not be a challenge for cattle and humans to co-exist in future. And all this depends on an infinitesimal organism - the earthworm.
Can an organism like earthworm boost the economy and secure human existence? "Sure", says Union Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Giriraj Singh, who has the formula to generate employment and revenue to farmers or entrepreneurs without incurring much expenditure. For instance- how to feed hen at minimal cost and earn from eggs it hatches.
"In 90 days gestation period, if we have four animals that produce 40 kilograms of dung, we will produce 120 kilos of earthworms from biomass. Per hen daily requirement of food is 30 grams of earthworms, 30 grams vermicompost and 30 grams broken rice," explains Mr Singh.
The minister has worked out a plan on where these four animals will come from.
The Uttar Pradesh government pays Rs 900 per stray animal per month to gaushalas or individuals to feed strays. People taking care of the strays sell the urine and cow dung by making vermicompost fertile for the reproduction of earthworms. This could make people earn better and can bring down government's liability as earthworms can be sold as feed to the poultry farms or to fisheries or could be used as feed if they decide to run poultry themselves.
"The formula for the production of earthworms is being worked upon and includes 10% cow dung, 20% soil and 70% biomass. 10 kgs of biomass combination produce 3 kgs of earthworms," added the minister.
But how will it generate income and employment?
For those farmers or entrepreneurs who have 25000 sqft or half an acre of land, they can rear 2500 hens. The formula being worked out by the ministry is that in 18 months of the gestation period, a hen can lay 200- 250 eggs which if multiplied by 2500 comes to five lakh eggs and these would be organic eggs which could be sold by the entrepreneur or farmer at Rs 5 per egg. This means an income of Rs 25 lakhs in a period of 18 months.
"Not only it makes the farmers add to his income generation from the available piece of land, but it can also lead to employment generation. The feed expenditure will come to a bought as he has reared earthworms in the backyard for the feed," added Singh.
"Though the scheme will be formulated within a year as ICAR approval is a must, we have initiated at least 6 pilot projects in various ICAR related institutes," the minister further added while elaborating that Indian Council of Medical Research recommends 180 eggs per year per person for nutrition and we are eating only 68 eggs per year per person.
The minister also cites research to draw home a point that there could be a battle for grains between humans and cattle.
"According to a research by a leading society, by 2050 population growth would be a challenge as animals and humans may have to fight for the available quantity of grains if cattle feed depends too much on grains," the minister said.
He added that when these hens will no longer be able to give eggs, their meat could be used a great source of protein and also help the farmer earn revenue.
Germany says can help India double farmers' income
New Delhi, Nov 1 () Germany has told India it can play key role in doubling farmers' income as the European nation has the expertise in farm mechanisation and post-harvest management, the government said on Friday.
German Food and Agriculture Minister Julia Klockner met her Indian counterpart Narendra Singh Tomar and discussed various issues on the agriculture sector.
The two ministers also signed a 'joint declaration of intent' on cooperation in agriculture market development, the agriculture ministry said in a statement.
In the meeting, "Klockner said Germany has expertise in mechanisation and post-harvest management. She thinks this shall play a major role in achieving doubling farmers' income," the statement added.
Tomar, in the meeting, said the goal of doubling farmers' income by 2022 is being achieved by improving productivity, lowering input cost, creating competitive markets and strengthening the value chain for agriculture and allied sectors.
The country's priority has shifted from production-centric to farmer-centric, he said.
The minister also mentioned that the Agriculture Export Policy 2018 aims to double agriculture exports to USD 60 million by 2022.
The German minister also impressed upon continuing the discussions of a working group on the issues like food safety, consumer protection and hoped that topics discussed are implemented, the statement added. LUX HRS
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