White Revolution 2.0 Should Be Implemented As A Poverty-Relieving And Development Programme

The project to double milk procurement over the next five years, touted as White Revolution 2.0, launched last week could alleviate poverty and provide smallholder farmers a steady income if extended to low milk-producing states and if seen through the lens of development rather than culture. Unlike hyperbolic programmes like doubling farmers' income over five years, where the government aims for the moon but lands on the treetop, the project to extend dairying through cooperatives might have a greater chance of success, given that the Bharatiya Janata Party under the present leadership is always in mobilisation mode and cooperatives have typically been used in the country to dispense political patronage. The ruling party's emotional attachment to cows can drive the programme or hinder it. The BJP thinks that indigenous cattle are exceptional but their average milk yield is 3.44 kg/day compared to 8.55 kg that a crossbred or exotic animal yields. There is much scope for increasing procurement through the organised sector, that is, cooperatives, farmer producer companies and private dairies. Last year, 231 million tonnes of milk estimated to have been produced, 24 million tonnes or about 10% of the production was procured by cooperatives. Cooperatives and farmer producer companies that are integrated with milk marketing federations like Amul or Nandini should be the preferred mode as they give farmers a high share of the retail price. Private dairies, being driven by the profit motive, tend to let down farmers when there is a glut. In June 2018, farmers in Maharashtra and Punjab dumped milk on streets to protest low prices. A 10-day strike was called that month by 130 farmers' organisations. Because of global oversupply, dairies were saddled with stocks of skim milk powder whose prices fell from Rs 240 a kg in 2017 to about Rs 140 a kg by the middle of 2018. Some state governments imposed price floors, but private dairies did not play along. Cooperatives in the Amul orbit, on the other hand, did not reduce the price they paid for milk. .Food Safety Authority Says Claims About A2 Milk Are Misleading, Withdraws Advisory Within Days.Industry veterans say that assured procurement by cooperatives reassures farmers, but the government will have to step in with financial support during times of distress. The purpose of dairying in India, they say, is to provide livelihood security to farmers who cannot engage in profitable agriculture and prevent distress migration to cities. But dairying is not easy. It requires discipline because the life of the farmer will have to be aligned with the biocycle of milk-giving cattle. The animals have to be fed and milked, protected against diseases and the sheds kept clean. It is drudge work that ties people down and may not appeal to youth. Even with machines for milking and cleaning, personal attention will be needed. And the dairies will have to be of a certain size to justify investment in machines. .Assured procurement will lead to more milk production and require additional supply of fodder. R G Chandramohan, founder and managing director of Chennai-based Hatsun Agro Product, India's largest private dairy, believes the country's tropical weather allows cultivation of fodder round the year, unlike in Europe, New Zealand and Australia which experience long and severe winters. Dairy farmers should grow Co-5, bajra-napier hybrid grass developed by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), he says. With proper irrigation, they could harvest about 30–35 tonnes of this grass a year and get about 20,000 litres of milk per acre, which could make them globally competitive.Narayan Hegde, who was involved in the propagation of crossbred cattle for many decades, says Chandramogan’s model is suited for those with land and irrigation facilities. A total of 55% of fodder comes from crop residues, he says, but farmers do not make economic use of it. Chopping can increase the digestibility of jowar and bajra stalks by 10% and reduce methane emissions by that amount, he says. The challenge is to extend dairying through assured milk procurement to those states that are low milk producers. These are typically tribal states in central India and the north-east. Bringing milk suppliers together, creating a network for collecting milk daily from villages that are not well connected, transporting it in chilled tanks, making weekly payments and arranging feed supply will need dedication, effort and investment. Low-yielding indigenous and non-descript cattle breeds will have to be replaced with high-yielding crossbred animals. People will have to be trained in dairying and veterinarians will be needed to prevent and cure diseases. There is scope for increasing milk production in states like Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, that produce about 2–3 million tonnes a year. In the north-eastern states, it is less than one lakh litres each. This is way below, say, production in Uttar Pradesh (36 million tonnes), Rajasthan (33 MT), Madhya Pradesh (20 MT), Gujarat (17 MT), Andhra Pradesh (15 MT), Punjab (14 MT) and Haryana (12 MT). Milk is also a preferred food item, so demand is likely to increase. While the share of cereals in monthly per-capital consumption expenditure has declined sharply, that of milk and milk products has held, even though the size of the expenditure has more than doubled since 2011–12. The average monthly per person spending on milk and milk products is Rs 314 and Rs 466 in rural and urban areas respectively, compared to Rs 115 and Rs 184 in 2011–12. If milk procurement is extended to new areas, consumption of milk and milk products there might increase even allowing for differences in food habits. The share of milk and milk products in total monthly per capita food expenditure in 2022–23 ranged between 7% and 11% in the low milk consumption states, while in the cow belt states, it was between 17% and 41.7%. But the health of the cattle economy also depends on putting animals to sleep once past their economic life. This is where cultural inhibitions can trump economic necessity..Amit Shah To Unveil White Revolution 2.0, New Dairy Sector Initiatives.Vivian Fernandes is a journalist with more than three decades of practice..The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of NDTV Profit or its editorial team..UPI’s Dominance-By-Few Threatens India’s Financial Inclusion Future

White Revolution 2.0 Should Be Implemented As A Poverty-Relieving And Development Programme

Assured procurement will lead to more milk production and require additional supply of fodder.

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