MilkITAdvisory Council Meeting

Dehradun 02/12/13

Activity updateThanammal Ravichandran, Nils Teufel

& team

MilkIT objectives

• Institutional strengthening: To strengthen use of value chain and innovation approaches among dairy stakeholders to improve market integration and efficiency.

• Productivity enhancement: To develop options for improved feeding strategies leading to yield enhancement with potential income benefits.

• Knowledge sharing: To strengthen knowledge sharing mechanisms on value chain and feed development strategies at local, regional and international levels

Meeting objectives

• Activities last 6 months• Group discussion– How can we improve the participation of

stakeholders/institutions in innovation platforms/ feed level interventions

– What is the sustainability of the innovation platform?

– How can we scale out the success of the IP platforms and their innovations

Update so far……

• Village census• Site selection- 2 clusters/district• Household census• Constraint analysis• Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST)• IP (Innovation platform) platform meetings• Marketing and feed interventions

IP approach

Partner NGOs

Innovation platform DVC

state dairy co-operative (Aanchal)

block & district administration

IFAD staff

veterinary officer

national NGO (BAIF, breed improvement)

farmers

Missing: private sector!

IP meetings

• 1 dairy value chain IP and 2 feed IP/ district• Regular meetings every 3 months at cluster

level• Follow-up meetings in villages• Implementation of interventions developed

and agreed at IP meetings (action plan)• New feed IP established (Joshigaon) after

Chhona decided not to continue

Marketing interventions - Sult

• Successes– Linkage with AANCHAL– One collection point in Baseri which covers 3 villages (Baseri, Sutholi and

Musoli) since Feb– Two collection points started this month in Besarbagarh (3 villages) and

Gehnaheet (2 villages)– Breed improvement- 2 CB animals through AH department, Aanchal- proposal

sent for 2 mini-dairy– Concentrate feed supply by Aanchal– Medicines for the members

• Limitations/constraints– Lack of monitoring for secretary- farmers decreased giving milk in Baseri.

Through IP meeting the issue was solved: training of all farmers how to check fat and lacto meter

– This is practiced in new areas- creating awareness- not one person shop-its producer co-operative

Marketing interventions - Bageshwar

• Bageshwar – Jeganath co-operative active since Feb 2013– Own sales point in Bageshwar– 11 villages, 102 farmers, 90-100 litres of milk/day– >INR 50,000 profit to co-operative after operational cost– Profit distributed only to suppliers– Consumers prefer buffalo milk– Demand also for milk products - cow milk ghee – Cream separator purchased by co-operative to support processing

• Input/support– 14 CB cow introduced through NABARD/AH support for innovative farmers– Feed support from AANCHAL– Veterinary support from AH/ KVK

Feed interventions - 1

• Dual-purpose cereals– wheat/ barley /maize /oat /finger millet– From VPKAS technical support– For fodder in winter/ more fodder and grain– Easy acceptance/agreement

• Napier grass– Source VPKAS, AH dept for Sult– NABARD support for van panchayat development- Napier

plantation (5 tons) - Bageshwar• Setaria grass– Seed source from Palampur university– Not germinated- seed viability? More rain?

Feed interventions - 2• Feed trough/feed drums

– For prevention of fodder wastage- recently started– NABARD support in Bageshwar

• Chaff cutter– Failure of typical manual chaff cutter- labour requirement– Small knife developed - acceptance is good– Will try the chaff cutter from Gujarat

• Hay stacking/ Silage– Started in Saing and Garikhet village- early adopters– Treatment with molasses and urea– Will try for 3-4/ farmers for 10-15 vill.- preference of farmers– Analysis of grass after treatment

Silage

Napier

Silage pack

Feed trough

Demo silage

Knowledge sharing• Staff training

– Pant Nagar veterinary college (3 days)– Staff from both partner organisations trained– Feed, breed and disease management and economic importance of dairy

farming• Exposure visit

– Gujarat, AMUL– Mehsana and Kaira dairy plant– Feed plant and breeding station– Exposure to various chaff cutters, feed management– Visit to villages

• Farmers’ exposure visit– Donoiri dairy co-operative (Aanchal) – success in feed production– Pant Nagar, kishan mela (farmers’ fair)

Discussion 1• Jyotsena Sitling:

– Chopping is difficult when tree leaves and branches are fed– Napier requires proper replanting every 3y– Fodder crops only successful where off-farm income– Who looks into animal health and breeding issues?– CAMPA is interested to support grass-land improvement on van

panchayat land• DV Singh:

– Timing is crucial in AI (buff, xbred); farmers have to be trained to expect examination before insemination

– Form of feed offered is important (simple chaff cutter)– Timing of feeding is important (no feeding during rumination)

Discussion 2

• Kailash Bhatt:– Because Ajeeveeka had problems running dairy

shop they now have agreement with private trader collecting milk from federations. Price is good, trader has invested in vehicle, other products also traded (e.g. vegetables)

• Rajeev Singhal:– What will make private traders join IPs? What are

effective incentives?

Discussion 3

• Kamlesh Lururani:– Recently visited the new co-operative in Bageshwar– Most important for sustainability are

• Payment transparency (bank accounts preferable)• Effective and efficient governance structures• Transparency in profit sharing

• CD Tyagi:– Loose milk marketing is efficient and accepted by consumers– But laws prohibit it for formal milk marketing– Food safety hazards increased when not chilled– Mangers are urgently required but have to be appropriate

Discussion 4

• Thanammal Ravichandran:– Various institutions have promoted mangers (NABARD)– MilkIT has supported mangers with INR 500-1000 to

test new models (bricks, aluminium drums, plastic drums?) – will distribute documentation and pictures

• Sonali Bisht:– Food safety laws are changing and becoming more

stringent; need to check how they affect dairy development innovations initiated by IPs

– Especially, how is loose milk marketing affected?

Group discussion

• 1: How can we create ownership of innovation platforms to make them more sustainable?

• 2: How can we make dairy innovation platforms more attractive to milk buyers?

• 3: What is the potential of private grasslands for increasing fodder supply and reducing labour requirements and which are most promising technologies for improvement?

Group 1• Kamlesh Gururani, Rajeev Singhal, DV Singh

Group discussion results 1a1. Next IP meeting to be hosted by co-operative

(in Bageshwar)2. Other projects (ILSP, Himmothan) should support

co-operative becoming owner of IP3. In the remaining year of MilkIT this transfer of ownership should

have priority4. Cooperative Department could be invited to support capacity

strengthening5. Disseminate collected documents and experiences to local and

state departments and institutions6. Identify opportunities to continue with electronic cloud-based

documentation (GoogleDrive)

Group discussion results 1b

• From plenary– How to ensure that owning institution does not

only have self-interest (e.g. producers)?– Try to replicate success of ATMA in cropping also

in dairy, establish an appropriate legal framework (cooperatives/producer organisations)

– Learn from successful models, but ensure that they are appropriate. What to adapt from the Anand model?

Group 2• CD Tyagi, Kailash Bhatt, GC Barthurah, Shankar

Group discussion results 2a

1. Quantity and quality has to meet buyers expectations2. More facilities for breeding & health management3. Improved marketing facilities (chilling, advertising,

payment systems, collection timings, packaging, timely availability of milk to consumers)

4. Stable and efficient institutional set-up (village groups, federations; proper & transparent quality control)

5. Better incentives to buyers

Group discussion results 2b

• From plenary– Private traders would be attracted if they would

see future benefit– They would have to see opportunities for engaging

in increased milk trade themselves (How to learn from Almora example?)

Group 3

• Sonali Bisht, DS Rawat, Kuldeep Thapliyal

Group discussion results 3a1. Under-utilised private land in villages (migration, labour shortages, other

income sources). How to use this land for livestock purposes?2. Cultivable waste-land could be leased to dairy groups3. Silvi-pastural systems could be tried on private lands (grasses and trees;

requires less labour)4. Improved grass species would increase production5. Silage would help with maintaining nutritive quality and could also be

sold6. Water harvesting structures could help with productivity of grass-lands7. Planting of Napier on bunds also has disadvantages through competition

with crops; planting on terrace risers could be more efficient8. Planting of fodder trees along water channels in waste-lands improve

efficiency

Group discussion results 3b

From plenary• Control of grazing / fencing• Is white clover an option? Is it persistent?• Fertilisation (urea from helicopter?)• Introduce improved fodder from grass-land in

enterprise mode• Rather oats/barley that wheat for dual-

purpose

Closing remarks

• The implementation of research for development is promising

• The learning from existing examples but also the own initiative by local organisations is a good way forward.

• Project implementation should involve various stakeholders and institutions to be successful and sustainable.

ParticipantsName Institution E-mail Mobile Phone

Barthurah, GC ULDB, Dehradun GirishBarthurah28@gmail.com +91 9411136153

Bhatt, Kailash IFAD – ILSP, Almora kailashbhatt1@rediffmail.com +91 9411749703

Bisht, Sonali INHERE, Masi/Delhi sonalibisht@yahoo.co.in +91 9650525806

Gururami, Kamlesh ILSP, Dehradun kg0011@rediffmail.com +91 9412040307

Ravichandran, Thanammal ILRI, Almora t.ravichandran@cgiar.org +91 8475032742

Rawat, DS GB Pant Inst. of Himalayan Env. and Dev., Almora dsrawat@gbpihed.nic.in +91 9412930889

Singh, D V GBPUAT, Pantnagar singh_dvrat@rediffmail.com +91 9411159980

Singhal, Rajeev Kumar ILSP – IFAD, Dehradun rajeev.singhal@gmail.com +91 9634222849

Sitling, Jostna CAMPA, Dehradun jsitling@yahoo.com +91 9412992891

Subedi, Shankar ILRI, MSc student, Almora/Nairobi s.subedi@cgiar.org

Teufel, Nils ILRI, Nairobi n.teufel@cgiar.org +254 705832054

Thapliyal, Kuldeep CHIRAG, Simayal kuldeep@chirag.org +91 9411303962

Tyagi, Chandra Dutt Aanchal & Mahila Dairy Coop, Almora chandradutttyagi@gmail.com +91 9412092196