Al1.medabad

THE INDIAN EXPRESS, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1,2017 i5 ,-_ .... :

Theconstituency f 351akh voters gr

ilk, II

In Since 2002-03, milk prices multiply, procurment trebles as industry spreads

HARISH DAMODARAN SURENDRANAGAR, NOVEMBER 30

FOR THE ruling BJP, farmer anger due to crashing prices - for cotton and groundnut in Saurashtra, potatoes in Banaskantha, and tobacco in Anand and Kheda - is seen as a challenge in the Gujarat polls.

But there is one "crop" - milk, which is supplied bysome351akh producers to district . unions affiliated to the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF or Amul) - from whiCh the BJPwill hope to gain. Its price, unlike that of other farm produce, has risen steadily. More so since 2002-03. when · NarendraModi first became CM.

Between 2002-03 and 2016-17. the aver­age procurement price paid by GCMMF unions to producers has gone up from Rs 185 to Rs 680 per kg fat. For "full-cream" buffalo milkcontaining6%fatand 9%SNF( solids-not­fat). it translates into an increase from Rs 11.43 to Rs 42.02 per litre (one litre = 1.03 kg). The same works out from Rs 826 to Rs 3035 a litre for "toned" cow milk with 3% fat and 8.5% SNF. Much of this has taken place after 2009-10, when the milk fat rate was Rs 337 per kg.

It isn't price alone. Gujarat's original White Revolution happened with Operation Flood (1970-96) during Congress administrations. The White Revolution has had a "second coming". however, under the BJP regime (see table). Between 2002-03 and 2016-17. milk procurement by GCMMF unions within Gujarat more than trebled from an.average 5230 lakh kg per day (LKPD) to 157.29 LKPD.

What is also significant is the spread of procurement. Amul's origins, as is known. were in Kheda. The first White Revolution was also largely a North-central and South Gujarat phenomenon: in 2002-03, the sin­gle largest district union was Mehsana.

That picture has changed in the last one decade. In 2016-17. the biggestmilkunion was Banaskantha, which has registered a five-fold procurement jump since 2002-03. followed by Sabarkantha. Both are in North Gujarat.

Saurashtra and Kutch had hardly any or­ganised milk procurement until well into the early 2000s; the state-owned Gujarat Dairy Development Corporation was declared sick in 1994. In 2002-03, the only functional union in the whole of Saurashtra-Kutch was Rajkot and its average procurement a mere 1.24 LKPD. But in 2016-17. this had reached almost 21 LKPD.

The political implications from all this goes beyond the fact that many faces from the dairy unions are contesting the polls. It is also about the communities of those in the dairy industry. Amul's leaders, and also those from unions such as Surat and Baroda. were primarily enterprising Patidar farmers. But

THE SURGE Average milk procurement (lakbkgperday)

UNiON

Baltaskantha Sab;u-kantha Kheda

Surat ·

Valsad SuWlldranagar~. · .. / ···.···

"i-",'i.'· ' >-';;'- ',,' \ ' . ... .. ".', . ,' " '" ~'

Rajkot*

Al1nied~b~d .> ;" -_. ,- ".-

(;andhin~gar

Bharuch Juriagadll* ,

.122 036

0 '

o O·

6.57

6.52 6.19

Botad' Amreli*, TOTAL 52.30 157.29

'Saurashtra-Kutch region unions

DAIRY LEADERS IN POLLS KHfillA UNION: Chainnan Ramsinhbhai P Panna!. Cong MIA. now B}P (Thasra); vice chainnan Rajendrasinh Pannar(Cong. Borsad) BANASKANlHAUNION: Chainnan Shankarbhai LChaudhilIY (BJP. Radhanpur.and minister). Parbhatbhai Pat~l (BJP. Tharad). Mavjibhai Desai (BJP, Dhanera)vs Joitabhai Kasnabhai Patel PANCHMAHAL UNION: Chairman Jethabhai G Bharwad (BJP. Sehra) BARODA UNION: Chainnan . DineshbhaiB Patel (B]P. Padra);vice chainnan Satisbhai Balubhai Patel (BJP. Karjan)

the main producer-members in GCMMF unionstoday belongto non-Patidar commu­nities: Chaudhari Patels and Thakors in Banaskantha and Mehsana; Ahirs. Rabaris. Thakors and Adivasis in Sabarkantha; Bharwads, Rabaris and Koli Patels in

Surendranagar: Ahirs, Rabaris and Maldharis in Kutch; and Adivasis in Valsad, Panchmahal and Bharuch .

. The dairy sector doing reasonably well has meant that those engaged in it have been rel­atively less hit, compared to communities iike Patidars who are more into regular crop agri­culture. Take Malod in Surendranagar's Wadhwan taluka Patid"rs constitute roughly 60 per cent of households in this village, bllt just a tenth of those· supplying to its milk co­operative society.

"As eM, Modi used to say farmers should get Rs 1.500 per 20 kg for kapas (raw un­ginned cotton), which the government in Delhi wasn't allowing. But now when he is PM, kapas is selling at Rs 850. below even the Rs 1,100-1.200 levels dming Congress rule." complil'.ns Pitambarbhai Mohanbhai Patel, a 50-acre Patidar who mainly grows cotton and groi!ndnut. His sentiment is shared by farmers from other communities such as Rabari and Koli. But being not as landed and relying more on sale of milk. they have been less impacted by the price declines in cotton and ground nut.

"In milk. ypu don't have to go to the mandi to sell. Also, payment happens every ten days. unlike cotton which takes six months simply to grow. And we get a fair price as well," says Vijaybhai Laljibhai Khatana. a landless Rabari farmer. who has eight cows and four calves. He supplies 30 litres daily to the village society that is part of the Surendranagar District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union.

Narendrasinh Rana. director at the Surendranagar,union, estimates the share of feed and fodder costs to be 60-70 per cent of the price that Gujarat's milk producers are now receiving.

'There is 30-40 per cent margin. then, but provided you solely engage family labour. Patidars are generally used to farming through hired labour, which is why you don't see them much in this business. Those who have ta¥~n to dairying, particularly with milk realisations going up, are the Rabaris. Bharwads, Kolis. Dalwadis and other sllch communities. They don't have much land to do normal crop agriculture and are also pre­pared to put in their entire family resources for milking and rearing oflivestock," he says.

If these communities make up the bulk of the 35 lakh producers supplying to the GCMMF unions. and are realising about three-fourths of the consumer price - full­cream milk is retailing in Delhi at Rs 52 per litre, while Rs 42 for toned milk - they may not be as hostile to the ruling party as the more vocal Patidars.

RElATED REPORT PAGE 21

--.,.------- ---------------------:--- -- .-

(Above) A woman dairy fanner pouring milk at a sotiety having a bulk cooler in Gujarat's Surendranagar distIict. (Be/ow) cans carrying milk being taken to a village society in Surendranagar district. Javed Raja

CHILLING TECHNOLOGY

White Revolution Part II Behind Gujarat's dairy sector's continued growth in recent times has been bulk milk

coolers - and 24-hour electricity

HARISH DAMODARAN BHUJ (GUJARAT). NOVEMBER 30

SINCE TIlE start of this century, milk procure­ment by Gujarat's dairy cooperatives has mOl"e than trebled to over 150 lakh litres per day (UPD), while spreading to newer areas, including in Saurashtra and Kutch. Key tothis has been a steady rise in procurement prices, coupled with a focus on expanding the mar­ket for the state's milk producers. The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation's (GCMMF) sales of 'Amul' liquid milk in the National Capital Region alone is around 31 UPD, half of which is transported all the way from Gujaratat Rs2-2.5 per litre and the bal­ance sourced from nearby states.

Butequally important has been the role of bulk milk coolers (BMq enabled by 24-h0ur electricity, and improved road infrastructure. The BMCs, with average capacity of 3;000-5,000 lin-es and going up to 10,000 litres, al­low the milk to be chilled either at the orig­inal procurement centre itself or a neighbouring village society.

In the pre-BMC era, milk had to be .broughtto a chilling centre latest by 11 in the morning to avoid spoilage. A typical truck covering 10-12 villages hact to start procurir.g from 5 :30 AM, in order to cover the last vil­lage by7:30 and bring the milk. loaded in alu" minum cans of 35-40 Iitres, to the chilling centre that might be 150 kID away. The same process had to be repeated for the evening's milk. collected between 5:30 and 7:30 and Q.rought to the chilling centre before 11 pm.

The above rigid rimelines naturally limited the options for farmers. They had tomilktheir

buffaloes or cows by 5 AM, if not earlier, lest they missed the truck. Also, it wouldn't have Possible to milk more than a few animals.

But that has changed with the BMCs, which chill the milk "at souice" to 4 degrees ' Celsius or less within three hours of collec­tion. The milk procured in the evening as well as morning Can be chilled for the tanker to anive at the society only towards the after­noon. This entire milk can, then; be lifted at one go. The tankers are also insulated, so that . the temperature of the mi Ik inside remains

within 5-6 degrees Celsius even after 24 hours. The milk landing at the dairy dock is, thus, fresh. The cost of the BMC (about Rs 12 lakh for S,OOO-litres capacity) as well as elec­tricity is more than offset through reduction is spoilage and better quality of milk. besides two daily truck nips being reduced to one.

For the farmer, the gains have been two­fold. The first is. of course, that he/she does not have to wake up too early to start milking. Secondly, there is flexib\lity to now milk more animals_ and expand herd sizes. This

has been further enabled by electricity, which makes it possible to use milkihg ma­chines that have become a common sight in dairy farms across Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Mehsana and Kheda. According to RS Sodhi, managingctirector of GCMMF, about 8,000 or 45 per cent of Gujarat's 18.500 village societies currently have BMCs. And since many BMCs cater to more than one society, the actual proportion of milk that gets chilled at source is closer to 80 percent.

The benefits of chilling technology can be seen when one travels through remote areas of Saurashtra and Kutch.

The Kutch District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union's bulk chilling centre at Bhirandiyara - roughly 70 km from Bhuj town towards the Great Rann salt desert­has five BMCs of S,OOO-litre capacity each. These BMCs d1ill the milk brought by pick-up

. trucks from 27 villages within a 70-km ra­dius, The Bhirandiyara centre also has an in­sulated storage tank· that ensures that the

, milk already chilled by the BMCs is main­tained within 5-6 degrees. The Kutch union operates 19 such bulk chilling centres all over the district/t has also started installing vil­lage-level BMCs; there are already two of them in villages where procurement vol­umes have risen significantly.

If Gujarat's milk procurement has con­tinue to expand even after the Operation Flood programme that formally ended in the mid-nineties, the credit probably goes to BMCs - and electricity that allows these to run even in remote rural areas. Assured pro­curement at remunerative prices have only further helped.

-----;------------------ - ---- -- -- -

Rearing indigenous cattle is easier said than done; this farmer shows how it can be profitable HARISH DAMODARAN HALVAD, NOVEMBER 30

PAREV, 13, produced 5,000 litres of milk during her seventh lactation cycle last year. Now, in her eighth, she's among the 150 Gir cows -t~at includes 40 calves and heifers below 2 years of age, and 35 lactatinganimals-owned by Chinubhai Khetasibhai Patel, All have dis­tinct names and neateartagStbr identification.

Patel's dairy farm - just across the road from the agriculture produce market commit -tee mandi at Halvad in Gujarat's Morbi district -alsohasseparateenclosuresrorthecowscur­rently in-milk. those who are pregnant, calves and heifers: and three bulls-"It is necessary for proper feed management Each animal has a dilferentrequirement, depending on its age and stage oflactation or pregnancy," eJ{j iains the 59-year-old, who is a bachelor in economics from Ahmedabad's H KArts College.

Patel's Cir cows yield an average of 3,000 litres over a 300-day J.:ictation period, as against thenonnal2,OOO levels for this indigenous cat­tJebreed Moreover, he has broughtdown their age of first calving to below three years, com­pared to the4-5 years under usual grazing con­ditions. "'fyou follow scientificfeeding and herd management practices, a cow can be in­seminated (at Patel's Parishram BaghGausha!a, this is done nab Irally by bulls) in 24 months_ Add nine months of pregnancy. she will start giving milk in 33 months," he says.

What are these practices? "A calf must be allowed to drink milk from two out of her mother's four udder teats until she is six months old_ This will ensure she becomes a healthy cow and a good milker in future," ad­vises Patel. Secondly, a cow should be given 1 kgcompoundcattlefeedand15 kggreenfod­der grass as a daily maintenance ration, whetherornotshe is produdngmilk. Forpreg­nant cows, the daily cattlefeed dose should be 2 kg initially and gradually raised to 6 kg close tocalving. This will guarantee both higher milk yields and better calf health. Once the animal is in-milk. there would be the ba~e mainte­nancedoseof1 kgfeed(and 15kgfodder)plus 500 grams for eve!}' litre. For l2litres daily yield, it means 7 kg of feed and 15 kg fodder,

The difference between Gir anj Holstein Friesian (HF) crossbreds is that "the latter re­quire 600-700 grams offeed for every litre of milk". So, even if yields are 7,000-8,000 Iitres and their age at first calving is only 24-25 months, the rearing costs work out much higher. Patel had, in fact,4O HF crossbreds that he sold in 2006, "as theyweren't.suited forour hot and humid climate".

(Top) Progressive dairy fanner Chinubhai Patel with his S,OOO-litre 'Parev' Gircow at Halvad in Gujarat. · (Above) Gir calves at Chinubhai Patel's fann. Javed Raja

But raising indigenous cattie has its chal­lenges, starting '''ith their not being amenable to machine milking. The reason for it is that the teats of these animals are un­even and "theywill not let out milk freely like HFs, who have no emotions". Also, their milk has to fetch a better 'rate to compensate for lower yields. Patel sells 200 litres daily, of which he supplies 40 litres to the Surendranagar District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union at Rs 28-30 a litre. The re­maining 160 Htres he is directly selling in 500-ml and one-litre pouches to consumers in and around Halvad town for Rs 55 a litre, "I could probably get Rs 70 per litre for this superiorquaJity A2 milk in Morbi and Rs 90 . in Ahmedabad, but reaching those markets is beyond my means," he admits_ .

According to Patel, milk sales alone can barely coverfeedand fodder, labour and other overhead expenses, To make money, fai:mers need to generate extra income from sale of dung and bred animals (a four-year-old pure Cir cow can fetch Rs 1-15Iakh), besides cul­tivating their own fodder. Patel does all of this_ Last year, he sold 300 tonnes ofvennicom­

. post at Rs 5,000 per tonne (two tonnes of dung are required to produce one tonne of vennicompost by earthwonns over roughly 60 days). He also dedicates six. out of his 18-acre land forgrowingjinjva grass through sprinkier irrigation, while farming am/a and lemon in the balance 12 acres,

It raises the question: How many dairy farmers can be. like Chinubhai Khetasibhai Patel? .

THE INCREDIBLE BANNI BUFFAIJO BREED

In' arid Kutch, a village of30families-that supplies tl.2 crworthof milk a year HARISH DAMODARAN BHUJ, NOVEMBER 30

AS ONE approaches this village around 5 km off the main road from Bhuj town to the "White Rann" - the vast picturesque salt desert is hardly 15 km away at the turn­there's nothing except sand and patches of Prosopisjulij1ora, a thorny shrub locally known as "ganda bawal". .

Appearances can be deceptive, though. Erandavali, the village in Bhuj Taluka of Gujarat's Kutch district, is hOflle tojust 30 families making up 250-odd people.

Yet, these 30 households - all from the . Muslim Maldhari pastoralist community­together supplied 529,341 litres of milk to the Kutch District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union during the year ended March 31, 2017. Forthis entire milk, they re­ceived a total payment of Rs 2.18 crore or Rs 726lakh per family - in an arid and saline region not receiving even 350 mm of aver­age annual rainfall!

Erandavali is one of the 48 small hamlets in a 3,000 sq km area called the Banni plains between th'e Kutch mainland and the Great

Rann salt marsh. Banni refers to a buffalo breed as well as pasture grass species, both indigenous to this belt.

The Banni buffalo, unlike common breeds such as Murrah or Jaffarabadi, can tolerate water scarcity and harsh climatkconditions, while thriving on the natural grasses grow­ing in the area. The Maldharis, 90 per cent Muslim and the rest mainly Meghwal Dalit Hindus, leave these animals to graze during the night. They are trained to return to their vandh (hamlet) in the morning. The grasses, in turn, are well adapted to withstand dry weather, containing up to 5 per cent crude protein and 40 per cent fibre.

The annual milkyield and age at first calv­ing ofBanni buffaloes, at 3,000-3,500 Iitres and 3.5-4 years, isas good, if not better, than that of normal "water buffaloes". Despite that, the Banni was recognised as the coun­try's 11th buffalo breed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research only in 2010. "Milk yields are higher for grazing, as opposed to

. stall-fed, animals. Graiing - the Banni buf­faloes travel up to 10-15 krn- enables the animal to properly digest what it eats and the increased basal metabolic rate leads to more milk production. In New Zealand and

Maldhari herdsman Raubhai Halepotra with his Banni breed buffaloes at Erandavali village in Kutch district of Gujarat Harish Damodaran

Australia, too, the cows are mostly let to graze;" points out R D Trivedi, veterinarian and manager (procurement) at the Kutch district union.

"In a normal. monsoon year, the grasses grow to 3-4 feet and are available from July to March. If the rains are poor, we get them only for 3-4 months, which increases our reliance onjowar (sorghum) fodder, paddy straw, kapasiya khod (cottonseed oilcake) and groundnut chilka (hull). These are purchased from the Bhuj market," notes Raubhai Halepotra, president of Erandivali Dhudha Pasupalak Mandli, the village society that pours milk to the Kutch union.

This dairy farmer rears 70 Banni buffaloes that include 21 calves, 27 currently dry and 22 lactating animals yielding about 170 litres per day. In 2016-17, he sold Rs 10.261akh worth of milk to the Kutch union. Even big­ger is Sadhak Halepotra, who has 150 buf­faloes, of which 50 are now giving 300 litres daily. Last year, the value of his milksupplied was Rs 16.21Iakh.

The Kutch union is at present procuring over 36,000 litres of milk daily from some 2,450 producers in the Banni area, which has

an estimated 25,000 population and roughly thrice as much livestock.

"Before 2009, when the union came, we were selling to milk traders at Bhuj, which is 70 km away. They would buy and pay well in summers, whenmilkavailabilitywas low, and slash rates while not purchasing our en­tire quantity during the winter months when production goes up. The union procures our whole milk and pays based on the fat COll­

tent,"says Raubhai Halepotra, who previ­ously maintained only 20 buffaloes.

One indicator of progress is the price of livestock.· .. Between 2009 and now, the average rate for an adult Banni buffa lo here has soared from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1.5lakh, while similarly rising from Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 for Kankrej breed cows," claims Yalamji R Humbal, chairman of the Kutch union. .

One farmer, Hirabhai Devkaran Yarotra from Dhori village, fetched as much as Rs 4.5 lakh. This price, paid by a Hyderabad-based businessman, was for a buffalo that gave 18litres daily in its very first lactation. "Its annual yield would be 5,000 Iitres, whose value, at Rs 40 per litre, comes to Rs 2lakh: observes Humbal.

.