LOW PRODUCTIVITY OF INDIAN DAIRY ANIMALS : CHALLENGES AND MITIGATION STRATEGIES
( Winkle – Internship, CoVS &AH,BAU )
Milk is a nature’s ideal food as it supplies almost all essential nutrients in significant amounts,more than any other single food .It finds a very important place in any balanced diet, particularly in vegetarian diet,to provide some good quality protein, sufficient calcium and riboflavin which are difficult to obtain in adequate quantities solely from the plant food .
Indian Dairy Market
India’s livestock sector is one of the leading livestock sectors of the world, and contributes about 11.6% of the world’s livestock population. India is the world’s largest milk producer and consumer of dairy products, using up nearly 100% of its milk production. With demand for both cattle and buffalo milk, India’s dairy industry is uniquely positioned compared to other dairy-producing nations. The average milk yield per animal is however substantially low, with the majority of India’s milk production sold as fluid milk. Because of this, the industry is at the crossroads, holding tremendous potential for overall value-addition and development.
India’s livestock sector is one of the leading livestock sectors of the world, and contributes about 11.6% of the world’s livestock population. In contrast, India having a high livestock population and milk production, the amount of milk produced per animal is low. When compared to the global average of 2238kg/year, Indian milch animals are producing only 1538kg/year.
Latest trends in the Dairy Industry:
- Consumers are increasingly demanding dairy products with plant-based milk, meat alternatives, and vegan offerings are becoming mainstream.
- Manufacturers are trying to enhance the nutritional profile of dairy products by adding health-enhancing ingredients. They have to find and use ingredients that can offer functionality and shelf life in the most minimalist way possible.
- Reducing waste and optimizing production. Reducing energy consumption and fuel bills.
Challenges faced by the Industry:
India’s productivity per animal is very low due to various reasons such as neglected management, shortage of feed and fodder,breeding system, lack of guidance to farmers and limited accessibility of livestock extension services,health and hygiene of animals,etc .
1.Shortage of feed/fodder:
About 38% of dairy farmers find difficulties in managing dry fodder specially during rainy season due to poor resources, excessive rains in the neighbouring states from where they were purchasing dry fodder. Currently the country faces a great deficit of fodder. In the utilization of available feed and fodder, unproductive dairy animals compete in equal numbers with their productive counterparts. The total grazing area gets reduced every year due to urbanization & industrial development. This results in the shortage of feed and fodder in the context of total demand, hiking up fodder prices, and resulting in inadequate feeding. This ever-increasing demand-supply gap restricts overall milk yield.
- Breeding system:
Cattle owners don’t have a proper and effective detection mechanism for heat symptoms during the oestrus cycle. The calving interval (the time gap between the birth of a calf and the birth of a subsequent calf from the same cow) is on the rise, reducing animal performance. Diseases causing abortion and mineral, hormonal and vitamin deficiencies lead to fertility problems, affecting the industry. Infertility, a problem with high genetic merit bulls, a low rate of conception through artificial insemination, inability to bring the animal to the AI centre/ Hospital and non- availability of AI facilities.
- Education and Training:
Education and training for all dairy sector employees become essential to develop a sense of ownership, and to inculcate proper knowledge of best practices. Implementing such programs in the dairy sector requires strong, relentless commitment from the management, which at times could be a stumbling block.
- Health:
There is a lesser number of veterinary institutions in proportion to the cattle population, leading to inadequate health services for these animals. Irregularity in vaccination schedules and deworming programs lead to heavy mortality in calves, especially buffaloes.
- Hygiene:
Many cattle owners do not provide proper shelters to their cattle,also shed and milking yards are unhygienic, giving rise to mastitis. (In this, the udder tissue or mammary glands get inflamed due to physical trauma or microorganism infections).Unhygienic milk production also leads to poor quality milk being stored and spoilage of milk and other dairy products.
- Marketing and Pricing:
Due to the adoption of extensive cross-breeding programs with the Holstein Friesian breed, the fat content of a cross-breed cow’s milk is on the decline. Because of this, lower prices are offered, since milk price is estimated based on Fat and SNF content.
How Industry can overcome these challenges:
Overcoming various constraints faced by farmers in the dairy industry is essential in order to improve reproductive health and milk production in animals. This would in turn result in increased profitability from the dairy sector and positively contribute to the nations GDP. Accurate management of cattle breeding, feeding and reproductive health is essential to deal with these various constraints faced by dairy farmers.
- Artificial intelligence can be employed to monitor breeding programes and track the progress of livestock. Various innovations in heat detection should be employed so that animals are inseminated at the right time which would improve conception rates.
- Sex sorting technology (use of sexed semen) and Embryo transfer technology can be adopted to produce more female calves.
- Efforts are to be made to increase the productivity of cultivated fodder crops in order to meet the country’s requirement. Vertical expansion of arable lands, using non-arable land for pasture, and improving seed quality are some of means by which India can meet it’s fodder demand.
- Alternative sources of feed should be explored like Azolla and hydroponic fodder production. Hydroponic fodder production involves growing of plants in a nutrient rich solution without soil for a short period of time in a greenhouse. Fodder that is hydroponically grown, grows upto 50% faster offering higher yields of fodder of better quality making it an eco-friendly and cost-effective method of fodder production.
- Various extension activities should be employed to teach farmers the importance of a balanced diet and supplementation of various vitamins and minerals.
- Farmers should be educated about proper farm management and animal care and on various hygiene practices that can be practiced to decrease the incidence of reproductive diseases in the farms.
- Cattle should be screened regularly by veterinarians for early detections of various diseases like Brucella, Mastitis and other reproductive disease which would cause reduction in milk production .
1.Process Excellence
Dairy products are a perishable food item. Hence, they have to be refrigerated in robust cold chains and sold quickly to preserve product quality. The short time to market and the quick flow of products differentiates the milk industry from others. Time and information management is key to reducing waste and improving the quality of delivered dairy products, and this is where a lean manufacturing consultant can bring about improvements.
- Define SOPs/ Process Automation:
Process automation – is what IT systems can do to optimize and make your dairy business effective, helping to quicken internal processes by eliminating human error. This could be in the form of Artificial intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Internet of things (IoT), ERPs, chatbots, packaging & handling equipment, etc. All of these helps to save man-hours, which could be better utilized in more critical processes.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) – in dairy are instructional roadmaps for the entire dairy’s operations. Dairy businesses worldwide widely use process automation that overcomes the shortcomings of existing methods. Dairy consultants try to ensure that SOPs and process automation covers the following facets of dairy businesses, i.e.
- General herd health management including vaccination and treatments
- Reproduction management (deliveries through timed AI protocols)
- Milking management (procedures, parlor setup, cleaning, sanitation)
- Veterinary Assistance
- Productivity management (including breed selection and tracking)
- Feed management (including newborn calves)
- Waste management (including newborn calves)
- Maintenance crew
- Organizational blueprint (including manpower utilization)
- Production and supply chain safety
- Location management (diagram or maps of where animals and facilities are located).
