Dairy promotion in Salinity Affected areas....India: The Game changer is here

There has been a watershed change in the lives of the families who took to dairy promotion. On an average 10 Litres milk are produced per day. Out the total production nearly 20% is consumed by the family and rest of the milk is sold out. Apart from meeting the nutritional security of the beneficiaries, It has also led to a considerable increase in the income levels of the beneficiaries. The average increase in net income of the beneficiaries is 3700 INR per month. The highest net increase in income levels is 7833 INR per month and the lowest stands at 1500 INR per month. 

   

CASE

“Give me one and I will make it 3”…………….   are the words of Nanduben Gigabhai daki from Maktupur village in Mangrol block, Junagadh. This reflects her enterprising zeal and the will to do better and overcome challenges.  AKRSPI has been working in this village from the year 1999.

Under the KVY3 project as a part of the livelihood enhancement programme in the off farm category dairy promotion has received a fillip among these households.  Her husband has been into the Pani samiti for 3 years now and has gained a larger perspective about the strategies of AKRSPI to bring changes in the lives of others.  Earlier with 5 bighas of land and one buffalo it was not possible for them to send their child to school and consume nutritious food.  Nanduben fitted into the criteria for dairy promotion and got one buffalo with support from AKRSPI. Things are much different from before as now she could send her child to school and take more nutritious food in terms of milk and its products. Her income has also increased by nearly 8000 INR per month.

Milk production per day (Lts)	Milk used for family comsumption (Lts)	Milk sold per day (Lts)	Price per litre	Total Income ( Milk+Dung)	Total Expenditure in Fooder and Medicine	Net Cash Flow
10	5	5	40	12833	5000	7833

It has been possible because of her Learning ability, participation in other orientation programs regarding animal husbandry, workshops conducted under the KVY 3 project where she gets an opportunity to interact with the various resource persons from dairy sector. “My husband supports me in all my endeavors” she says with a smile…..

Dairy promotion in coastal areas of Saurashtra

The coastal areas of Saurashtra face the problem of Salinity Ingress which renders the soil and water become saline, this has been mainly due to anthropogenic activities like mining of lime stone and pumping out of the ground water. There has been an emergent situation  where the farmers have lost their land productivity to the salinity. In this situation it is the poor and the marginalized who are affected the most.  there has been an urgent need to help these community members to enhance their livelihoods and cope up with the changing Geo-hydrological pattern. Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India) with support from  Sir Ratan Tata Trust is implementing various types of interventions to mitigate the issue. 

Dairy promotion has proved to an important game changer when it comes to supporting the poor and the marginalized. AKRSPI has provided support for the purchase of buffalo, fodder seeds which are saline resistant, regular capacity building in Animal Husbandry practices and workshops on the same.There has been a remarkable output and the beneficiaries have their income levels increased in the range of INR 1500 to INR 6000 per month . In addition to this this has also met their household nutritional requirements.....