Dairy products are the intrinsic elements of a balanced diet. Forever increasing population pushes the demand of milk and milk based products. To meet the untapped demand and growth potential many people from different walks of life are turning into dairy entrepreneurs. Dairy expert Mr. Sayyad shares few important tips on commercial dairy farming useful for the beginners. He is based at Hyderabad and is a dairy technologist serving in the industry for the past 25 years. Sayyad’s family is best known as dairy consultant specializing in setting up dairy farms. Excerpts-
First and foremost the commercial dairy farm must always be close to the market. All the packaged milk is actually two days old as milk gets collected from far off villages and processed in city plants. In dairy venture, 85% is the cost of the milk, 10% is transportation cost and 5% is operational cost. The private dairy farm owner must try his level best to reduce the transportation cost yet supply milk as fresh as possible. Therefore it is crucial that the farm must be close to the urban market. It is ideal to start the farm with 50 cattle then it shall be a profitable venture.
Second is quality. Customer should be supplied with good quality milk even at higher price because he immediately forgets the extra money paid per litre when quality stays back with him. To attain quality milk it is imperative to feed nutritious fodder to the cattle. No heath supplements must be given to the dairy animals instead only balanced silage such as green fodder, azolla and sorghum should be fed throughout the year. If fodder and foliage is neglected, quantity and quality of milk goes down that directly reduces the profitability.
Cow and buffalo selection is another factor that needs utmost care. Holstein and Jersey breeds in cow are ideal while Murrah breed in buffalo. In South India, Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu, Chitradurga and Chinatamani in Karnataka are good areas to buy these breeds and also some parts of Maharashtra like Sholapur.
Tracking health of every single cattle in the farm is the key to success in a dairy venture. Other than regular vaccination and health care, daily record of feed intake of all the animals is a must. Similarly the record on quantity and quality of milk produced by each milking animal should be maintained. In the nutshell input (as in feed) and output (milk) needs to be monitored every day.
Indian dairy industry as a whole ought to be restructured with modern technology and precise database to simplify the operations. In countries like Israel resourceful database is maintained on every cow that includes details on its origin and brood. India has the export potential of milk and milk based products but we lack tremendously on infrastructure. The prerequisite for exports is one single farm should have 1000 plus herd size where as so far in the entire country we have only a fistful farms rearing more than 1000 cattle. Youth must consider being dairy entrepreneur and accomplish the untapped potential. Although the industry is unorganized but is enduring.
My entire family is working in dairy industry in different parts of Asia. My eldest brother was the first to join the industry and we all followed him following the belief employment is assured in this business. The conviction was true 25 years before and stands strong even today. Dairy industry in always on the upscale intensification but we need to adopt and execute new technologies to be reap the benefits and be at par with the growth rate!
First and foremost the commercial dairy farm must always be close to the market. All the packaged milk is actually two days old as milk gets collected from far off villages and processed in city plants. In dairy venture, 85% is the cost of the milk, 10% is transportation cost and 5% is operational cost. The private dairy farm owner must try his level best to reduce the transportation cost yet supply milk as fresh as possible. Therefore it is crucial that the farm must be close to the urban market. It is ideal to start the farm with 50 cattle then it shall be a profitable venture.
Second is quality. Customer should be supplied with good quality milk even at higher price because he immediately forgets the extra money paid per litre when quality stays back with him. To attain quality milk it is imperative to feed nutritious fodder to the cattle. No heath supplements must be given to the dairy animals instead only balanced silage such as green fodder, azolla and sorghum should be fed throughout the year. If fodder and foliage is neglected, quantity and quality of milk goes down that directly reduces the profitability.
Cow and buffalo selection is another factor that needs utmost care. Holstein and Jersey breeds in cow are ideal while Murrah breed in buffalo. In South India, Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu, Chitradurga and Chinatamani in Karnataka are good areas to buy these breeds and also some parts of Maharashtra like Sholapur.
Tracking health of every single cattle in the farm is the key to success in a dairy venture. Other than regular vaccination and health care, daily record of feed intake of all the animals is a must. Similarly the record on quantity and quality of milk produced by each milking animal should be maintained. In the nutshell input (as in feed) and output (milk) needs to be monitored every day.
Indian dairy industry as a whole ought to be restructured with modern technology and precise database to simplify the operations. In countries like Israel resourceful database is maintained on every cow that includes details on its origin and brood. India has the export potential of milk and milk based products but we lack tremendously on infrastructure. The prerequisite for exports is one single farm should have 1000 plus herd size where as so far in the entire country we have only a fistful farms rearing more than 1000 cattle. Youth must consider being dairy entrepreneur and accomplish the untapped potential. Although the industry is unorganized but is enduring.
My entire family is working in dairy industry in different parts of Asia. My eldest brother was the first to join the industry and we all followed him following the belief employment is assured in this business. The conviction was true 25 years before and stands strong even today. Dairy industry in always on the upscale intensification but we need to adopt and execute new technologies to be reap the benefits and be at par with the growth rate!