LOW PRODUCTIVITY OF INDIAN DAIRY ANIMALS: CHALLENGES AND MITIGATION
BHAVYA ARORA
4TH PROFESSIONAL YEAR, BVSc and AH
IIVER, ROHTAK (LUVAS)
INTRODUCTION:
India is the world’s largest milk producer and consumer of dairy products , using up nearly 100%
Of it’s milk production.
Nowadays , due to much more awareness, consumers are demanding dairy products with cleaner labels value added ingredients are becoming popular.
Manufacturers are bringing to enhance the nutritional profile of dairy products by adding health improving ingredients.
CHALLENGES FACED BY THE DAIRY INDUSTRIES:
1.SCARCITY OF FEED/ FODDER:
Total grazing area gets reduced every year due to urbanization and industrial developments. Moreover , non productive animal also competes with productive animal in grazing.
This leads to shortage of feed related to total demand , increasing fodder prices and resulting in inadequate feeding.
Poor quality of forage and lower purchasing power of small dairy farmers and laborers engaged in the dairy industry adds to whole difficulty.
- HEALTH :
Many veterinary health care centres are located in far off places and hard to approach in some situations.
These centres are also less in numbers. Not even having advanced technologies in all the veterinary health centres.
This leads to improper health services for these animals.
Improper or non uniformity in schedule for deworming programmes leads to massive damage or mortality in calves especially in buffaloes.
- HYGIENE:
In many local or unorganised farms, farmers do not provide them with ambients environment. Not housed in proper shelters, leaving them exposed to harsh climatic conditions.
Unhygienic cattle sheds and milking area makes animal prone to many diseases, most important is mastitis.
It also leads to detoriation of milk quality and spoilage of milk and other dairy products.
- EDUCATION AND TRAINING:
Local farmers are not that very educated aware about the upcoming latest technologies.
Scientific education and training workshops on healthy and efficient milk production systems should be arranged on monthly or weekly basis to keep the farmers updated and make them learn abouth these technologies and methods used.
- LIMITED DAIRY REACH AND HIGH COST OF MILK HANDLING AND DISTRIBUTION:
In India, reach to dairies continues to be at low levels. Milk is mainly collected by private vendors and sold to private dairies or other members of distribution channel. This passing to multiple channel leads to high final retail prize.
So to reduce this problem we can reduce the multiple distribution members in the channel who are involved and will reduce the cost of handling.
MITIGATION TO THE CHALLENGES :
India has enormous potential in the dairy sector for more production , innovation, and export. For betterment in milk production health of the animals should be the main concern for their owners by maintaining proper schedule for vaccination, keeping a regular check on their animal and giving them proper feed and fodder. Area under green fodder should be increased. Fallow land and barren land should be converted into cultivation of green fodder.
Government is also taking many steps to improve the genetics of animals making them more resistant to diseases, increasing efficiency of milk production.
Financial credit accessibility must be improved so that small farmers can also upgrade their farm management practices and inftrastructure.
Improved technologies and more of digitization is required. Proper cold chain maintaining management should be improved.
