Innovative Technology and Practices Transforming India’s Dairy Farming Sector
| Dr. Alok Kumar Yadav Livestock Officer, CCS- National Institute of Animal Health Baghpat-250609 (Uttar Pradesh) India
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Since the days of the white revolution, Indian dairy farming has taken great strides and evolved significantly. As with any other industry, technology has aided the sector and its stakeholders in a variety of ways. But the capacity created by private dairies in the last 20 years is more than the capacity set up by the cooperatives in over 30 years. Also, the Indian hinterland and rural farmers are still unorganised and in desperate need for technological intervention. However, owing to the proliferation of dairy-tech start-ups, the Indian dairy sector is slowly and steadily transforming.
In the past few years, the Indian dairy industry has received a tremendous boost through technology driven products, services and solutions, the credit for which deservingly goes to agricultural and dairy start-ups. Some of the technologies are already in practice in India, albeit the adoption is still quite low while many others are yet to penetrate the industry. Never the less, there is no doubt that technology is playing a key role in modernising the Indian dairy industry. Let’s take a look at some key new age dairy technologies:
Why dairy needs technology ?
Meanwhile, it’s important to note that unlike in the West, India’s dairy industry is highly unorganised. Which means that about 60 per cent surplus milk is handled by the unorganised sector (milkmen), while the remaining 40 per cent is procured by the organised sector comprising of dairy co-operatives and private companies. In developed countries, about 90 per cent surplus milk is handled through the organised sector. According to the experts in the field, due to the highly unorganised nature of the sector, technological advancements have been minimal. In fact, a lack of technological adoption has created a slew of other issues for the sector. Some of these challenges are high wastage and inconsistent quality and quantity of milk for many small farmers.
Health Tracking Devices for Cattle:
Health disorders reduce the productivity, longevity and reproductivity of cattle. Every year, farmers cough up huge amounts of money on their cattle’s health and wellness. However, thanks to wearable animal gadgets which are akin to human fitness trackers, farmers can track, monitor and manage cattle’s health, nutrition, behaviour, pregnancy, milking frequency, milk production anomaly and activity level in real-time. These smart animal trackers can be implanted in the cattle’s ears, tail, legs, neck or any part of the body. Last year, Karnataka government had implanted GPS-enabled digital chips in the ears of 56 lakh animals across the state to track their health and early diagnosis of medical condition. Some of the companies that have developed smart cattle health tracking devices are SmaXtec, Cowlar, Moocall, Smartbow, Stellapps, etc.
Robotic Milking Machines:
Traditionally, cows have always been milked manually by hands. This is not only a time-consuming activity but also has labour cost associated with, thereby increasing the price of milk. Robotic milking machines are enabling farmers to eliminate the pressure on physical labour, maintain a hygienic milking process, milk the cows anytime of the day instead of following a fixed schedule and improve the milk production. The robotic milking machines have arms or cups with sensors that can be attached individually to cows’ teats. The sensors can detect whether the cow or which of its teat is ready for milking or not. Once the milking starts, the machines can also identify impurities, colour and quality of milk. If the milk is not fit for human consumption, it is diverted to a separate container. The machines can also automatically clean and sanitize the teats once the task is over. Raghava Gowda has developed a low cost, nonelectric milking machine for cows. Some other start-ups which have introduced automated milking systems are mi-Robot, GEA, De-laval, Full-wood-Packo and Lely among many others.
Cattle Monitoring Drones:
Farmers are required to keep a manual vigilance whenever the livestock moves out of the farm for grazing. There are high chances of the cattle getting lost, stolen or being attacked by other animals. The cattle monitoring drones can keep track of the cattle and herd them back from fields to barns. Some drones are equipped with thermal sensing technology, which helps to track the cattle from the heat of their bodies. Drones can also capture the pictures of pasture areas and relay information as to whether these are suitable for cattle grazing. A number of companies such as TRITHI Robotics, Dronitech, Sagar Defence Engineering, DJI Enterprise and Sunbirds have made headway in building commercial drones for various purposes, including for agriculture and livestock management.
Product Traceability for Customers through Block Chain:
These days, customers like to know the journey of their dairy products from farm to table. This calls for end-to-end supply chain transparency to enhance the trust of customers. An increasing number of dairy manufacturers, suppliers and other stakeholders are leveraging block chain technology to give real-time data about their products to customers. This is done by putting a QR code on the packaging which customers can scan on their mobile devices to get information on the origin of the milk – how and where it was collected and packed, how old it is, what kind of transportation and cold milk chain facilities were used, etc. The Kerala government in India is leveraging block chain technology to streamline purchase and distribution of milk, fish and vegetable in the state. The international food giant Nestle has tied-up with Australian start-up Open-SC to deploy block chain technology in to improve its dairy supply chain. French supermarket Carrefour sells its micro-filtered full-fat milk in bottles with a QR code. Some of the start-ups operating in food biotech are StaTwig, Ripe, Agri-Ledger, TE-Food and Food coin.
Milk Freshness:
Milk is a highly perishable product. In spite of treating it with pasteurization, freezing and preservation processes, it has a tendency to go stale. Millions of tons of milk turns stale before timely consumption and goes waste. Efforts are also being consistently made to increase the shelf life of milk without adding additives or preservatives. Technology is now making it possible to detect the freshness of milk and store it for a longer period of time. Australia-based food technology company Naturo has developed a technology that can keep natural milk fresh in the refrigerator for at least 60 days without using any additives or preservatives. US scientists have pioneered a new pasteurization technique which increases shelf life of fresh milk from 13 days to 40 days without changing its taste or nutritional value. Back home in India, IIT Guwahati scientists have developed a smart phone app aided paper sensor kit that can test the freshness of milk and inform how well it has been pasteurized. This kit can come quite handy in large kitchens, milk collection centres and milk bars.
Automated Cattle Traffic Management:
It can be an extremely tedious task to manage and move cattle to milking stalls and back to barns. There is also a risk of injuries to the cattle. Automated cattle traffic management system has computer-controlled gates which opens and closes electronically. These gates can sort the livestock on the basis of their readiness to milk. The livestock ready to be milked is moved to the milking area while the others are either put in the waiting area or returned to the barns. Companies like Delmer, Bump Gates, Full wood Packo and Lely are known for their automatic cattle traffic systems.
Feed Management:
The feed requirement of cattle depends on their health and weather. For example, a sick or pregnant cow may need more nutrition. Hot and humid weather means that cattle need more glucose in their feed. There are a number of feed technologies that produce formulated feed additives, supplements, premixes and base mixes to maintain optimal milk production throughout the year. For example, the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has developed bypass protein technology to produce specially treated protein supplements that can be fed to cattle to increase milk yield and quality. Then, there are also digital feed monitoring solutions which can help farmers detect the quality of feed, manage feed inventory and understand cattle’s feeding pattern. In fact, feed monitoring solution can help design customized diet for each cow based on the assessment of their body weight, milk quality and yield, and thereby improve fertility and productivity per cow. Some of the companies providing feed management solutions are Godrej Agrovat, DeLaval, Dairy Margin Tracker, etc.
Ecommerce Market places:
Several online B2B market places such as Agro-Star and Gold-Farm have been launched in India to make modern equipment and advisory services available at the door step to farmers and dairy manufacturers on their smart phones. Many B2C platforms such as Fresh-VnF, Way Cool and Farm Link have also emerged at a rapid pace they pick fresh produce from farms and deliver them at the doorstep of retail customers, hotels, restaurants and cafes.
Supply Chain Technology:
The Indian dairy industry supply chain is quite complex owing to its dependency on a number of factors such as storage temperature, cold chains availability, weather, perishability/shelf life, first and last-mile distance, packaging, etc. The fact that the Indian dairy industry is unorganized and fragmented also adds to the supply chain woes. However, a number of technological innovations are taking place in the dairy supply chain in India. Take, for example, India-based supply chain start-ups such as Stell apps, Milk Man Apps and Trinetra Wireless. Under supply chain, cold chain technology is expected to progress by leaps and bounds. The coming years will witness the rise of energy-efficient and cost-effective cold chain warehouses, cold boxes, Phase Changing Material (PCM) pads, temperature-controlled cold chain packing, refrigerated vehicles, cold chain pallet shippers, and other advanced cooling technologies. Tessol and Ware house India start-ups are making their mark in cold chain infrastructure in India.
Farm Management Technology:
From accounting, finance and labour management to livestock and supply chain management, a dairy farm has to ensure that all its operations run seamlessly. Farm management software can help automate and digitize end-to-end production and operations activities. It can give a holistic view of all farm activities, manage records, generate reports and detect inefficiencies. Stell apps, Milc Group, My Dairy Dash board and Nedap are some of the smart farm management solutions that exist currently.
Dairy Biotechnology:
Dairy Biotechnology is a relatively emerging field in the dairy industry. However, it is being touted as one of the most disrupting dairy technology of the future. The potential of dairy biotechnology lies in the areas such as increasing disease resistance in livestock, scientific feeding of cows, embryo transmit technology, artificial insemination, development of new molecules and vaccines for prevention and disease management of animals, dairy enzymes/ proteins/probiotics, food grade bio-preservatives, etc. Some of examples of dairy biotechnology products that have made headlines are animal-free ice cream by Perfect Day, livestock disease diagnostic tools by Advanced Animal Diagnostics, bovine genetics breeding by Genus ABS India, etc.
The above list of technologies is inclusive but not exhaustive. Currently, most dairy technologies face adoption barriers in India because a large percentage of the Indian dairy industry still comprises of small-scale and unorganised players who lack financial means, accessibility and expertise to deploy the technology. The good news is that dairy technological revolution has already begun in India, and it’s only a matter of time that these technologies become common.
Tech interventions are imperative
Digitalisation will have a profound impact on the ‘milk production’ segment in the value chain. In India, dairy farming is unorganised, so technology penetration is relatively less; however, in the last five years, numerous start-ups have mushroomed in this space. These firms aim to increase farmer productivity and reduce wastage.
One of the key areas where digitalisation can have a significant impact is cattle management. Farmers can track cattle feeding patterns and monitor their health by advanced analytics. This is likely to boost cattle productivity and milk yield. However, cattle monitoring via AI-based solutions is still in its infancy in India, with only a few companies providing this service.
Prompt Equipments is a pioneer in this field. Over the last 30 years, the company has launched a number of innovative products and solutions that ensure transparency and quality in the milk supply chain. Some of their products include iSmart milk analyser, milk procurement software, a collection system, chilling solutions, Farm365 management apps etc.
From the cow to the consumer, milk travels a long way. Prompt’s innovative products and solutions cover the entire spectrum from farm management solutions, milk collection systems and milk testing equipment to ensure that the quality and purity of the milk is retained at every step of its journey.”
It’s an animal wearable, which is a comfortable, non-invasive, IoT solution designed for the timely detection of the onset of the cow’s heat cycle. Developed with a specialised algorithm, it is designed to give actionable alerts which ensure timely breeding with a high success rate. The software leads to improved farm productivity and better animal health.
Stellapps Technologies, another dairytech company, digitalizes and enables supply chain traceability for dairy companies. Their solution, mooOn, is similar to Prompt’s in that it helps to maximize cattle productivity and herd management via a wearable device and app. Through the IoT and sensor based SmartMoo cloud, they have digitised cattle health, milk production, milk procurement, milk testing, and cold chain management.
Stellapps launched MooPay, a direct payment platform for dairy processors and cooperatives, last year. This service makes use of the entire Stellapps product and service portfolio to facilitate instant payment into dairy farmers’ existing bank accounts and assists them in receiving their actual payments without delay. In a recent development, a Bangalore based start-up has signed an agreement with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to digitise the dairy milk procurement value chain and promote banking facilities at milk collection centres. Another start-up in the field is Bodhishop, which is trying to solve the problems of adulteration as well as other issues.
The physical verification of the farm and the process followed is a major service that Bodhishop as an E-commerce platform provides to its customers. Besides that, Bodhishop also assists sellers or farmers in getting their branded products sold, marketed and shipped across the globe.
What are the modern trends in dairy industry?
The Indian Animal Husbandry and Dairy industry is vital to the growth of the rural economy. A revival in economic activities, increasing per capita consumption of milk and milk products, changing dietary preferences and rising urbanization in India, has driven the dairy industry alone to grow by 9-11% in 2021-22.
What is innovative technology for milk safety?
By applying surface acoustic waves, electrochemical and optical methods with the use of nanofabricated surfaces and immobilized DNA aptamers, SAFEMILK aims at creating an optimized complex assay for efficient assessment of milk safety, which could become a useful tool for the milk and dairy product industry.
How has dairy farming improved in India?
Before Operation Flood began, milk output was only 21.2 MT in 1968-69 but increased to 30.4 MT by 1979-1980, 51.4 MT by 1989-1990 and 209.96 MT by 2020-21. Daily milk consumption in India increased in three decades-the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s-from a low of 107 grams per person in 1970 to 427 grams per person in 2020-21 and In the financial year 2022, India’s daily per capita milk availability was 444 grams. There is a steady increase in daily per capita milk availability. The total milk production stood at over 221 million tons in the country the same year.
