Innovative Technology and Practices Transforming India’s Dairy Farming Sector
Author- Jeevan Ranjan Dash
Asst. Professor
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, CVSc and AH, OUAT, Bhubaneswar
Introduction
From centuries back dairy farming is integrated with Indian agriculture. India ranks number one in the world as far as milk production is concerned. Recently National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has estimated that by 2030 the demand for milk as well as milk products in India is supposed to reach 266.5 million metric tonnes. With the advancement of science modern agriculture is focused on sustainable agriculture. Thus the Indian dairy farming is undergoing paradigm shift embracing new technology and sustainability. At present 1/5th of the global milk production is from India. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh are the top 5 milk-producing Indian states. They contribute 53.11% of the total milk production of the nation. Milk production in 1950-51 stood at merely 17 Million Tonnes (MT). In 1968-69, prior to the launch of Operation Flood, milk production was only 21.2 MT which increased to 30.4 MT by 1979-80 and 51.4 MT by 1989-90. Now it has increased to 210 million tonnes in 2020-21. Per capita consumption of milk and milk products will be higher in urban areas compared to the rural areas. The per capita availability of milk in India is much higher than the world average. In three decades (the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s), the daily milk consumption in the country rose from a low of 107 grams per person in 1970 to 427 grams per person in 2020-21 as against the world average of 322 grams per day during 2021 (Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Govt . of India).
Source- Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, GOI
Merits of organized dairy farming
Even though demand for milk and milk products are increasing day by day and the opportunity and demand for dairy business is growing up, Indian dairy farming is still unorganised in nature. Only 20% of the surplus milk is procured from organized sectors such as dairy co-operatives/Milk unions and dairy industries. There is a huge loss in terms of revenue due to wastage and lack of standardisation in terms of quality and quantity. Another major factor is that average production of the cows in India is comparatively lower. Therefore organized dairy farming is very essential to boost production while minimizing the wastage.
Source: Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, GOI
How Technology can transform dairy farming in India
Adopting technology will increase the production efficiency and minimize the wastage in dairy farming.
- Automated milking system- DeLaval AMR™ automatic milking rotary and DeLaval VMS™ voluntary milking system are two major robotic machines for automatic milking. It increases milk value chain by increasing performance, reducing labour cost and sparing time for farmers to concentrate in other farm activities like feeding, breeding and health management. It also reduces the chances of intramammary infections (www.Delaval.com).
- Automatic waterer- Automatic waterers have sensors for analysis of animal behaviour and welfare with image analysis and machine-learned segmentation technique. A significant change in water intake may indicate towards the potential physiological changes in dairy animals such as heat stress, oestrus stages, or any other health related aspects.
- Digitalization- Digitalization plays a major role in this transformation. Digitalization have a major influence in herd management. IOT(Internet of things) and advanced analytics can be used to check the feeding pattern and herd health. Livestock monitoring utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based systems are still in its infancy in India. However, very few companies like “Prompt Equipments” along with a team from IIT, Mumbai designed “Boy Smart” wearable belt. It uses AI and IoT for tracking livestock breeding and deliver timely information to farmers. Another such business Stellapps Technologies (Stellapps) claims 20% rise in milk yield and 50% decrease in calf health cost by wearing this gadget in cattle.
Dairy digitalization has a significant effect on supply chain management and payment to farmers. Digitalisation solutions such as IoT along with advanced analytics can assist by communicating real-time data to various stakeholders, detecting any abnormalities in milk’s quality and quantity even during value chain’s transit phases. Order monitoring, stock management, transactions tracking, and growth in sales may all be automated with real-time database and advanced analytics, allowing for better knowledge of clients’ purchasing habits. Stellapps, Mr. MilkMan, and Trinetra Wireless are three Indian start-ups among several others that are digitalising the dairy supply chain.
Co-operatives like the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) started digital payment to farmers. Fino Payments Bank has also partnered with Gokul Dairy as well as Mother Dairy, since 2017, to digitalise payments in the dairy industry.
- Chip based Oestrous detection- Celotor is a gadget developed for detection of oestrous in cows. It has two parts, one device is attached to the head of the tail of the female cow and the other one over the teaser bull to detect the oestrous condition for artificial insemination. However another such device, Heat Wath II, cow chips is a RFID chip for detection of oestrous in cow when some other animal mounts over the cow. The chip is attached to the tail head of the cow. When some other animal mounts over the cow the sensor detects and information transmitted to the system automatically.
- Quantifying Milk Composition- DeLaval counter system is a device that utilizes UV fluorescent method to count somatic cells (SCC) (www.Delaval.com). Similarly Milk companies like Afimilk Ltd. uses infrared technologies to quantify milk composition using somatic cell counter (SCC) (www.afimilk.com).
- Oestrous detection devices using vocal cues- Acoustic devices with sensors can be used to detect conditions like pain, oestrous, hunger, age of animals etc. However, the practical intricacy of the ambient noise may make it difficult for these acoustic sensors to function correctly.
- Metabolite Detection- LCMS(Liquid Chromatography -Mass Spectrometry) and NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance ) techniques are being utilized to quantify milk metabolites that depicts energy balance and other ailments in dairy animals.
- Pedometer- CowAlert is a pedometer for prediction of stage of oestrous in cows with high accuracy. This device is tied to left leg of the cow. A gravitational tilt from either axial position is measured as data. This device predicts oestrous by measuring activities like increased standing time, reduced rumination, decreased milk yield, more leg activities etc.
- Reticulo rumen bolus- SmaXtec sensor (www.smxtec.net), Well Cow (www.wellcow.co.uk), eCow Devon (www.ecow. co.uk) are some giants in the manufacturing of reticulo-rumen bolus. Any change in flow rate of different feed and fluid across reticulo-rumen, pH and temperature were continuously monitored by these devices. It uses radiofrequency, sms and 3-axial accelometer for measurement of activities. In case of any alteration from normal value, a sms will be received by the farm manager.
- Digital Body Condition scoring- BCS(Body condition scoring) is an effective non-invasive method to estimate overall health and nutritional status of the animals. Earlier it was done manually however now a days Bayer animal health used 3-D imaging and convex hull method for measurement of BCS.
- Low cost finance and insurance solutions- State and central government is focusing on low cost financing and insurances to the Indian dairy farmers through banks and cooperative societies to sustain Indian dairy farming.
Innovations towards sustainable dairy farming-
Ethical practices such as grazing support, free access to open space and humane treatment of animals and prohibition of use of chemicals and antibiotic is very important in sustainable dairy farming. More and more incorporation of renewable energies like solar panel, biogas plants will reduce dependences on fossil fuels and will lower greenhouse emission. Efficient waste management system like anaerobic digesters to convert cow manure into biogas make the dairy farming environment friendly and sustainable. With time there is growing demand for value added dairy products like cheese, butter and ice cream etc. Thus market diversification and value addition has ample scope to generate revenue and making the dairy farming profitable and sustainable.
Conclusion-
The future of dairy farming in India would be promising and bright by embracing innovative technologies and adopting sustainable practices.
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