DAIRY FARMING
Due to small land holdings, poor soil, irregular monsoons and very limited
possibilities of irrigation, the Adivasis have little income. Besides there
are no industries in the area which could provide employment and thus be
the source of additional income. Animal Husbandry and Milk Production is
at least a partial answer. Hence Dediapada Center introduced dairy farming.
The Government showed a keen interest in this experiment and so did
some banks, which wanted to reach out to the poor in tribal areas by guarantying
subsidies and loan for the projects. They encouraged the Center to expand this
project to other villages too. Today it covers forty-three villages. Each
of this is a small unit and only the poor among the marginal and the small
farmers are helped.
Each liter of milk fetches Rs. 12/- and even if the milk yield per buffalo
(Compared to a cow, Water buffalo yields higher quantity of milk) is 4 litters a day, it becomes very economical as well as a good additional
income. A milk yield of 4 litters would give them Rs. 48 a day. After deducting
Rs. 20 per buffalo for fodder and labor, the farmer would get Rs. 28. Compare
this with the fact a whole days labor in someone else’s field would fetch
him only Rs. 12. When the farmers realize this, more and more of them wanted
to join this project.
In an area where they are not used to keeping cattle for the production
of milk and where there is no market for the milk within reach, it is necessary
that the farmers join together and form a Co-operative. The Dediapada Center
helped them form this Registered Milk - Co-operative Society. The Center
helped them in organizing themselves, in administrative work, in contacting
the Government and Bank Officials to get subsidies for buffaloes for the
poor farmers, in buying suitable animals from outside the district, in
training the Adivasi personnel for the running of the Co-operative and
in the transport and marketing of the milk.
Today the milk co-operative self sustaining and self-sufficient. It
obtains the loans, buys the buffaloes, makes cattle feed available, provides
insurance and medical facilities for the animals, collects and transports
the milk. Several young Adivasi men have been sent for training in animal
husbandry as well as in administrative work.
In fact, today we have 35 tribal village workers (TVW) who have been
trained by the N.D.D.B. (National Dairy Development Board, Anand, founded
by Dr. V.Kurian, well known in the world for his Dairy Development activities)
and BSC (Behavioral Science Center) a training center attached to St. Xavier's
College, Ahmedabad. These TVWs have all been trained in animal husbandry
and are what one could call "Bare foot veterinary Doctors."
They are stationed in different villages and they teach the villagers
the basics of buffalo health are, the why and how of diseases, how to keep
the buffalo healthy, how to increase the milk yield and so on.
There are also 2 full - time veterinary doctors who visit all the villages
regularly. For rendering veterinary services, and for the transport of
milk the Milk Cooperatives Society has its own jeep and trucks.
The Dairy farming and Milk Co - operatives project has been a good help
to the Adivasi farmers and it is spreading still more. This years yield
(1994-95) has been 1,345,673,5 Litters as a daily average of the whole
year. This year we have got an income of Rs. 57,149,920. (In Spanish currency
200.024.720 Pts. This total comes after deducting 30 paisa per litter to
meet the expenses of employees, diesel oil for the vehicles and wear and
tear, repair works and so on.
During the first year the Dediapada Center made its office and godowns/warehouse available to the Society. But now the Milk Co-operative Society has constructed its own office, testing room, and godowns. This is a further sign of the development and success achieved by the project. According to the government reports of the development works of Dediapada a Taluka, our milk Co-operative Society work has been considered one of the best developing works of the Taluka.