Improved Dairy Production and Processing Through Training Programmes

The Farm Science Centres known as 'Krishi Vigyan Kendra' (KVK) are functional in various districts of India for imparting vocational training to different clientele groups. KVK at the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal has been functioning since 1976. The main aim of KVK is to develop entrepreneurship amongst the rural people especially the farmers, farm-women rural youth and the entrepreneurs in different areas of agriculture, dairying, fisheries, bee-keeping and home science for enhancing productivity, increasing income and employment for the welfare of human beings.

This KVK Karnal conducts various need-based and skill-oriented training programmes for different target groups to enhance production in their mixed farming system of crop and dairy husbandry with a special emphasis on scientific dairying, which has immense potential for increasing income and employment in the rural areas.

KVK, NDRI has developed infrastructure to organise skill oriented training programmes through “Learning by Doing”. After training, follow up extension programmes are undertaken. While designing the courses, the entire concept of farming system approach is taken into consideration to make the vocation economically viable and sustainable for the farm families.

In the present paper an attempt has been made to analyse the various training courses organized by the KVK Karnal in the year 2004 in Dairy Production and Dairy Processing. Results of the impact of different training programmes conducted particularly in scientific dairy farming have been discussed.

In the year 2004 this KVK organized 70 on campus trainings in which 1442 trainees participated and in 35 off-campus trainings 640 beneficiaries were imparted training. In the total 105 training programmes, gender wise analysis indicated that out of the total 2082 beneficiaries 860 were practising farmers, 509 farm-women, 487 rural youth and 226 girls. For the selected beneficiaries of Intensive Dairy Development Project operating in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh State 17different training programmes were organized in the year 2004 in which 346 farm women and 219 farmers were trained in scientific dairy farming.

Out of the total 70 on-campus training programmes 46 were organized in the area of dairy production and processing. In dairy production out of the total 41 trainings 18 were organized for 357 dairy farmers of Karnal district. Although the mandate of the KVK is to work in the district only but due to the excellence developed by the staff of this KVK, 23 sponsored trainings were also oraginsed for 608 beneficiaries from other states of the country in addition to two trainees from neighoubring country Sri Lanka. In the area of dairy processing five training courses were organized in which 59 entrepreneurs participated.

This KVK organized 38 one day training cum visits and study tours during 2004 for 1219 farmers and farm women of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttranchal, Haryana, Bihar and Jharkhand states who were provided the first hand knowledge on scientific dairy farming at NDRI

Impact of the training porgarmmes in the area of Dairy Production

After attending various training programmes in the area of scientific dairy farming a visible impact have been observed in the district Karnal and other states of the country. A large number of dairy farmers in various villages of Karnal district have been enoroumusly benefited by attending the training programmes.

It was found in the periodically conducted surveys in the district Karnal that a large number of dairy farmers have developed the elite herds of cross-bred by adopting technologies pertaining to cross breeding, some of the dairy cattle yielded up to 45 litres of milk per day. The trainees not only sell the milk in the town or through scientific dairy farms but the superior germ plasm of cross-bred cattle have gone to various states of the country through cross bred animals.

In a study conducted by the NDRI in various villages of the Karnal indicated that the knowledge level of the respondents in areas of dairying, viz., breeding, feeding health care, management and fodder production was 35.42, 48.56, 51.28, 53.43 and 56.04 per cent, respectively whereas, the extent of adoption of recommended dairy farming practices was 73.76, 68.32, 61.56, 63.60 and 37.53 per cent in these areas respectively. The overall adoption level was 58.26 per cent.

A contemporary survey conducted amongst the beneficiaries of in the Parwanoo area of Himachal Pradesh state revealed that for feeding the dairy animals stall-feeding has increased by 11 per cent. Milk yield increased from 2.66 to 4.01 litres in cows and from 2.52 to 4.16 litres in buffaloes. Some individual beneficiaries have also adopted ‘Paneer’ making and the women beneficiaries have started a Self Help Group and were manufacturing mineral mixture required for feeding to the dairy animals. In Ropar district of Punjab and Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh states a large number of the trainees who attending training programmes at this KVK have adopted scientific dairy farming. There are enormous case studies and success stories those have been produced as a result of effective trainings organized in scientific dairy farming at this KVK.

An unemployed rural youth of Jhanda Jikirao village of Ropar district have started manufacturing urea molasses mineral block lick to be fed to the dairy animals. In the areas of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh the trainees have reduced their herd size by removing the unproductive and low producing dairy animals which remained a burden on the scarce feeding resources with the farmers of the rain-fed areas.

Impact of the training porgarmmes in the area of Dairy Processing

In the area of dairy processing, methodologies for separation of cream from milk, preparation of butter, indigenous dairy products like ‘ghee’, ‘channa’, ‘khoa’, curd, ‘paneer’, ‘burfi’, ‘kalakand’, ‘gulabjamun’, ‘rasogolla’, etc. were demonstrated through training programmes to the small-scale dairy owners and entrepreneurs. Small-scale dairy owners and the trainees have adopted these technologies. There are nearly 70 small-scale dairies in Karnal district and each dairy handles around 2-16 quintals of milk per day depending upon the infrastructure facilities with the dairy owners and the availability of milk. Most dairy owners have adopted the dairy processing technologies. The KVK experts have helped the trainees in formulating the projects and provided the information for the required equipments to start this venture in addition to the training programmes.

Conclusion:

Based on the analysed data and the impact studies it was found that after attending the various training Prograames there was gain in knowledge and skill of the beneficiaries. After adoption of the newer technologies learnt by the entrepreneurs they experienced significant gain in income and employment. It is recommended that various KVK should tailor and organise need based vocational training programmes for entrepreneurship development so that the rural people are benefited.

It is imperative that the dairying being an integral component under the mixed farming system need be strengthened in the shuttle cities of different states and in blocks around the major towns of India. This will help in achieving the sustainable production and in turn will increase the income and employment in the rural areas. It is also recommended that through such training programmes organized by the vocational Dairy Training Centres (DTCs) in Pakistan, Sri Lanka Bangladesh and Nepal socio-economic conditions of the rural farm families could further be improved through scientific dairy farming.

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