Farming has been one amongst the traditional businesses in India from the pre-colonial era. Even today, a major part of the population is engaged in agriculture and dairy business. Dairy Farming is a bifurcated branch under farming which is often practised either alone or along with crop cultivation as a mixed mode farming. However, since various industrial sectors are adapting commercialization with the advent of technologies, the dairy industry is not far behind in setting a trend toward specialized dairy farming. Thanks to the dairy equipment and milk software that have set the world on fire with its revolutionary impact on the milk industry and promising benefits they offer.
The trend has been powered by the liberalization of the Indian economy since 1991 that introduced trade globalization and economic reforms when India signed the WTO (World Trade Organization) agreement. These factors have intensified and raised the milk production and processing capacity of India as the conglomerates marked their arrival into the dairy business a few years back. Additionally, several other factors that have catalyzed commercial dairying incorporate mechanization, falling numbers of landholders, wide acceptance of high-yielding cross-bred cows, and easy access to advanced technology.
Dairy farming, as a sustainable employment provides a primary source of income to the small and medium scale farmers in India. The dairy sector in India might double its milk production by 2020 owing to the huge potential of the export market base in Europe and the western countries. A successful dairy farmer possesses a good know-how of livestock & farm management and dairy business. If you’re venturing into your own dairy business, you must gain knowledge and hands-on experience in managing dairy animals by visiting neighboring farms, veterinaries, and seek expert guidance & training programs on dairy farming. It requires intensive capital investment and resource deployment which can be attained through government schemes or bank loans.
For round the year market availability for milk, the commercial dairy farms must be established near milk processing plants, cities & towns, or the areas with decent connectivity to roads and accessibility to other required resources. Selecting appropriate cows, say cross-bred Jersey cows that bear a good amount and high-quality milk and require little economical investment in terms of feed and overall health management. Such cows are easily receptive to the modern animal husbandry routines like milking using milk machine, calf weaning, etc. If you’re seeking opportunities to start a dairy farm on a commercial scale, you must begin with fostering 15-20 cross-bred cows. This size is enough to employ two full-time workers and produce a considerable income, sufficient to support a middle-class family. You can expand the size of your farm gradually as you achieve stability in your dairy business. Besides, you can implement dairy equipment and milk software at your farm according to the degree of mechanization required and magnitude of operations. The dairy business, if picked up on carefully with perseverance, can bear rewarding fruits and a minimum of 20% or more profitable return on your investments, which is scarce in most of the other sectors.
