Friday, September 4, 2015

Dairy farming in India-Small scale agri-business opportunity

India is one of the major milk producing countries all over the world.Apart from India, US, China, other European union nations contribute major portion of the world milk production.As one of the successful business sector,Dairy farming got tremendous scope as a small scale agricultural business opportunity in India.Here we will be analysing some of the factors which make Dairy farming a successful business opportunity in India.

  • Scope of Dairy farming in India.
  • Advantages of Diary farming
  • NABARD Subsidy on Dairy farming.
  • Infrastructure requirement for Dairy farming.
  • Integrated farming approach.
  • Finding new Feed and Fodder resources.
  • Various Government websites for Dairy farming information sharing.
  • Success stories of dairy farmers

Scope of Dairy farming in India

As an established farming sector in India,Dairy farming got tremendous potential.Milk is consumed by almost 90% of the people in India and is a daily consumable product too.Either Cow milk or Buffalo milk is used in 80% of the homes.Dairy farming is one of the major source of income in rural area. Even the White revolution in 70s Increased milk production,still majority of the farmers in this sector are unorganized.The opportunity is here.Even Unorganized,Dairy farming is profitable in India.With the help of modern technologies and more Organized way of milk production,Dairy farming can be even more profitable and successful.
  • Huge demand for Milk and Milk products exists in India.
  • Local market itself can consume major portion of your production.
  • Possibility of producing various Value added products exists.
  • Indian Government is promoting Dairy farming through various schemes.
Advantages of Dairy farming
  • Eco-friendly farming.No environmental pollution.If properly maintained,environment is getting benefited out of it.
  • Daily market Exists.Local market itself has huge demands of Dairy products.
  • More and more people are getting awareness about the Health benefits of Cow Milk.So huge increase in Demand.
  • Dairy farming can be mixed with Goat farming,Poultry farming,Fish farming etc to generate additional Income.
  • The Manure produced in Dairy farm is used as natural fertilizer for various crops.It is an additional Income.
NABARD Subsidy on Dairy farming

What are the subsidy available for dairy farming?,Which are the schemes available from government of India to support Dairy farming? ,How to get loans for Dairy farming? these are main questions which come in to mind while we plan to start a small scale Dairy farm.The answer is with NABARD.NABARD is the Apex agency for giving financial assistance to Dairy farming.The objectives are
  • Promoting Modernization of Dairy farms with New technologies and Infrastructure.
  • Production of clean and quality milk.
  • Rearing good quality breeds and ensure the quality of the Calf.
  • Generating employment opportunities in Rural area.
  • Infrastructure development and Supply chain network.
Eligibility for NABARD Dairy farming Subsidy

The following types of persons,Groups,Organizations are eligible for applying Dairy farming subsidy from NABARD
  • Farmers
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Groups
  • Societies
  • Companies
An individual is eligible for the subsidy only once for a component of Dairy farming.You can apply later for another component.Various schemes are available based on the project cost and size of the farm.A detailed project report need to be submitted for availing the loans.

Infrastructure Requirement.

The Infrastructure requirement for starting a Small scale Dairy farm is

  • Shelter for Cows/Buffaloes:The space required per animal is 50 sq.ft.The roof should be 3-4 meters high.The shed should be ventilated well.The floor should be on a raised ground.A standing space of 1*1.05 meter for each animal is needed.
  • Feeding equipments,Grass cutters
  • Milking equipments
  • Milk storage Room
  • Feed storage Room
  • Water Tank
  • Bore well
  • Land for Growing Feeding Grass
Integrated Farming Approach

Instead of only depending on Dairy farming,it is better to to Integrated or Mixed farming.You can do rearing of Goats and Chicken and the Manures can be used for raising various crops or vegetables.The by-products from vegetable farming or crop farming can be used as a feed for Cows/Buffaloes. Thus effective utilization of resource is possible.

Finding new Feed and Fodder Resources

During draught seasons,it is very difficult to get Green fodder for cattle feeding.Utilizing Hydroponics technology will help us to generate our own Green fodder at low cost.Initially some investments are required.But in long run our farm will get benefited out of it.During draught season,the rate of green fodder usually get increased highly.If the draught season persist for long time,it will impact the financial stability of the farm.So if you plan it early,you can avoid future crisis.Hydroponics green fodder cultivation for livestock feed is getting very common in India. Through recycling of water you can save lots of water and it is very helpful if your farm is situated in a location where water scarcity exists.

You can raise Green fodder inside greenhouse also.But for that your cost and production should be optimised.If you follow integrated farming approach,then the bi products from crops and vegetables also can be used as cattle feed.Bi product from Sugar mills and Beer factories can also be used as cattle feed.

Government Websites for Dairy farming Resource

Government agricultural sites contain detailed technical information regarding Dairy farming.Department of Agriculture from various Agriculture Universities publish various article regarding Dairy farming. The sites can be referred for making detailed project report on Dairy farming for submitting to banks to get loans.The sites also contain solutions to various issues,contact details,application forms and schemes.You can refer this Dairy national portal page for visiting various government websites. 

Success stories of Dairy farmers

Success stories always keep us motivated.We can learn soo much from the life of farmers who converted farming to a successful business.below are some of them.

The Career of Mr.Santhosh D Singh started as an IT Engineer.He travelled all over the world as an Engineer and learned a lot.Soon he realized the Possibilities of Dairy farming in India and decided to become an Entrepreneur.He started his farm Amrutha Dairy farm with Three Cows.Now he is having more than 100 Cows in his farm with an annual turn over  of 1 Crores.Like any farmer,we also faced lots of challenges,but with the use of technologies and innovative ideas,he converted all of them to new opportunities.

The story of Mr.Ramakrishnan in Tamil Nadu also the same.He quit his IT job for starting Organic Dairy farm in Tamil Nadu.Now he is one of the successful dairy farmer.Now he is planning for further expansion of his farm.

There are so many success stories of people like Mr.Vijayan from Kerala,Mr.Venkat from Andhra Pradesh,Mr.Khushal from Maharashtra, who actually found the possibilities of Dairy farming business.Dairy Farmers from Andhra Pradesh are planning to form a Cooperative society like Amul.Once it is done,it will be a new history in Indian Dairy farming sector.

Like any farming business,there are various challenges and issues faced by dairy farmers.For the successful running of Dairy farm,it is very important that you overcome those issues. 

You can watch lots of Videos on You tube regarding success stories of various Dairy farmers all over India.Once you Modernise your Dairy farm and ensure continuous availability of Milk,You can be a successful Dairy farmer.Proper caring of Animals and neatness of your farm also very important.Vaccination of your Dairy farm animals also very much required.These are very basic ideas regarding a Dairy farm business.If you have any suggestion or opinion,you are welcome to comment below. 

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