NABARD - Soil Report 2015 - page 91

66
  S
tate
of
I
ndia
s
L
ivelihoods
R
eport
2015
effective planning and implementation of
development interventions.
Participants in the Round Table on
smallholder dairy farming recommended
developing a database of each animal (like
the way vehicles are registered) so that there
was a continuing health and production
record and any health interventions could
be appropriate. With internet connectivity
and computerisation being planned at the
panchayat level, it should be possible to pool
the data of animals for analysing the patterns
and trends in a given geographical areas for
planning suitable interventions. Hurdle can
be the considerable investments required
for MIS and also in training and awareness
raising of farmers.
National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI)
in its Vision 2020 document
17
recognises
the following: “Strategic planning for dairy
development of the country depends upon
basic and precise availability of data, giv-
ing complete, spatial and temporal view
of dairying and dairy-related linkages,
whether vertical or horizontal”. It proposes
as part of its Vision, “establishing a strong
database covering vital aspects of dairying
in India viz., milk production, marketed
surplus, procurement, processing and
distribution across different agro-climatic
regions.” Information technology will
be used for developing databases on a
uniform platform, which can be shared
by the potential users including planners,
administrators, policy makers, economists
and the scientific community at large. At
the village level, the Institute will establish
information banks that will provide the
necessary information regarding not only
dairying but also agriculture as a whole.
Understanding the market and preparing
itself to respond to the emerging market
trends will be the prime instrument for
enhancing the domestic livelihood oppor-
tunities in the dairy sector.
6. Financial services
Credit
Since good quality animals are expensive,
dairy farmers require credit for the purchase
of animals. Separate data on credit flow for
dairy developments at national level are dif-
ficult to come by since many farmers prefer
buying animals under the facilities of the
Kisan Credit Card. The Round Table on
smallholder dairy farming conducted at BAIF
threw some light on field realities. Farmers
are hesitant to borrow from the banks and
increase their herd size since dairy is not
considered a profitable venture and hence
they might not be able to repay with interest.
They prefer to increase the number of ani-
mals through breeding and rearing process.
Shankar Rout, a farmer, has a herd size of 40
cows, out of which 30 were produced at farm
and only 10 were procured from outside. He
mentions, “The farmers were earlier getting
loan fromdairy cooperatives at zero interest.
Since these dairies are not making adequate
profits, they do not lend any more now.
Banks, due to their bad experience in dairy
portfolio, have turned conservative in lending
for dairying. While farmers are producing
calves and increasing the herd size, they need
loans for constructing sheds, machinery etc.,
for which they are unable to get bank loans”.
Private dairies engage milk collection
agents who also double up as money lenders.
They use the thumb rule of credit worthiness
which is
`
10,000 as advance for per litre of
milk poured in a day. The farmer is paid
`
1
or
`
2 less per litre for the milk price towards
interest. The principal is repaid separately if
the farmer wants to break this relationship.
The lender is not interested in getting the
loan repaid so that he can continue to get
milk at a cheaper rate. Farmers have not
calculated the rate of interest that they pay;
they feel the pinch when another dairy
collection centre pays
`
20 per litre and
they get only
`
17 because of the loan that
they have taken. However, small farmers
lack the financial resources needed to get
out of the present arrangement and move
17
Source:
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