Proud moment: Made an impact in others' lives

During my stint as a Deputy Manager with National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), I was responsible for managing a New Generation Cooperative (NGC) project in rural districts of Maharashtra. Following are some of the caselets which I had prepared based on my interactions with the local folk to understand the impact our project had made in their lives DAIRYING BROUGHT DIGNITY AND HAPPINESS IN ASHABAI’S LIFE Ashabai Vitthal Gaikwad is resident of Shirad Shahpur village located in Aundha Taluka of Hingoli District in Maharashtra. She is 30 years old and hails from a family belonging to a schedule caste. She has 5 daughters and a son. Her family does not own any kind of land and hence the only source of their living used to be labor. She used to work as a sweeper with her husband in village Panchayat. The income from their labor was not enough to fulfill even the basic needs of their family of eight persons. She thought of doing many things but as her family was very poor, the unavailability of capital was the hindrance in her every idea of business. She finally thought of dairying and approached the female operator of Shirad Shahpur BMC center of NGC Nanded initiative. The operator gave her basic knowledge about the dairy business and the way it should be initiated and managed. She saved money and bought one crossbred cattle. She started pouring milk at Shirad Shapur BMC center of NGC Nanded initiative. Since the price of milk was very remunerative, her family started looking dairying as a business prospect. She bought one more buffalo from the income generated through the milk sold. She herself milks the cow and brings the milk to BMC which is quite unusual as this is considered as men’s job in this region. She is involved in dairying for the last one year. She everyday pours around 6-7 liters of milk at BMC center. Her monthly revenues from the milk sold are around Rs.3000. Since she does not own any land, she also sells cow dung to other farmers of the village. Initially, after completing her job at Gram Panchayat she used to take the cattle for grazing but now she has also purchased dry fodder for the animals. She wants to buy more animals and increase her business. In her own words “Whatever I am, I am of my own. I did not seek any kind of support or help from anyone. Dairying has not just improved our economic status but it has also brought happiness and dignity for me and my family’s’ life.” ASSURED MARKET IS A MUST FOR DAIRYING" – UDDHAV RAMRAO RAKHONDE Uddhav Ramrao Rakhonde is a resident of Ajarsondha village in Aundha Taluka of Hingoli district in Maharashtra. He is 25 Years of age. He has bought five buffaloes from Gujarat. As he explains “Milk is a perishable item and it cannot be stored for long. Therefore the availability of assured market is a must for profitable dairying. Initially we had government dairies but their procurement pattern was different which made dairying economically infeasible for farmers. The byproducts of agriculture are used in dairying and the byproducts of dairying are used in agriculture. There could not be better complimentary businesses than these two. Therefore, despite having options like poultry I have chosen dairy as a complimentary business to agriculture. NGC initiative has a transparent method of milk procurement and the rates given to us are remunerative. Also, the 15 days payment cycle ensures that we do have enough cash at our disposal.” BAPUJI FEELS EMPOWERED THROUGH DAIRY Bapuji Yashwant piddiwar is a resident of waranga village in Kalamnuri Taluka of Hingoli district in Maharashtra. He did not own any kind of land, so he and his wife used to work at others’ farms for earning their livelihood. After opening of Waranga BMC center of NGC Nanded initiative, he was assured of the market for milk so he bought two buffaloes from his life time savings. He bought two more buffaloes from the income generated through sale of milk. At present he has three Murrah breed buffaloes and one buffalo of local breed. Bapuji has three daughters and a son. He has married one of his daughters with income generated from dairying. He has now bought 3 acres of land. According to Bapuji “Due to this 15 days payment of dairy I am never in need of cash which initially was the case and I do not need to look forward to other sources for loan. Also I feel more empowered as now I work on my own fields with self respect” TERRITORY REGAINED Karanjala (Barashiv) village is in Basmat Taluka of Hingoli district in Maharashtra having large number of buffalo population. The only market for milk used to be local restaurants and sweet shops located at Aundha-Nagnath or Jawala Bazaar which were not very remunerative. So, the milk producers of this area were facing problems in adopting dairying as a business proposition. A group of milk producers led by Shri Munjajirao Deshmukh and Shri Sundarrao Deshmukh approached the NGC team to open a BMC center for this area. After initial surveys and feasibility study, on 13th January 2008 a BMC center was opened at Karanjala village by NGC Nanded. Shri Sundarrao Deshmukh agreed to give his shop on rent as a BMC location. He was also instrumental in organizing milk producers together and convinced them about the benefits offered by the NGC initiative. Milk producers from 10 nearby villages located in a radius of around 10 Kms started pouring their milk at BMC center. Milk procurement at Karanjala (Barashiv) BMC center remained almost stagnant for 18 months. In April 2009 average milk procurement was around 550 liters per day with around 100 milk producers pouring everyday their milk at BMC center, even in October 2009 average daily procurement was around 660 liters still with an average of around 100 pourers. In November 2009, NGC team intensified extension activities in the area and adjacent villages. As a part of extension activities meetings were organized by NDDB officers and local supervisors. In these meetings benefits offered by NGC were discussed and grievances of milk producers, if any were resolved. As a result of extension programme daily procurement increased even up to 1800 liters per day and in the month of January 2010 average daily procurement was around 1620 liters with an average of around 210 producers pouring their milk at BMC center. The successful operations of Karanjala (Barashiv) BMC center made the private dairy enterprises realize the milk potential of this area. Some of the private dairies started their operations in this area by offering lucrative commission and schemes to agents and milk producers. Milk producers got attracted towards the lucrative schemes offered by private dairy and the average daily milk procurement in March 2010 decreased to around 1040 liters of milk per day with only 145 producers pouring their milk at BMC center. Private dairies were not able to sustain operations through this inefficient system and have to withdraw back all the exceptional benefits. Again, milk producers who have left the system regained their faith in NGC initiative and have started pouring milk at Karanjala (Barashiv) BMC center. Milk procurement at the center has started increasing again.