Development of climate resilient Indian cattle: the future of Indian dairy
What stops me from advising a small farmer to buy country’s highest milk yielding cow and widely perceived to be essential for success in dairy- the exotic cows such as Holstein Friesian?
While these exotic cows can give milk yield of 30 to 35 litres per day and thought to be very suitable and profitable breed for commercial dairying then what makes farmers talking among themselves that dairy is not profitable? Why the newcomers are often told that dairy is a very risky business or why profits are always looked for in higher milk prices and not in reduced per litre cost of production and why despite spending so heavily on dairy infrastructure, feed, fodder and breeding the so admired highest milk yielder “exotic cows”, we see most of the commercial dairy farms in India are not doing well at all.
I, Nikki Pilania Chaudhary, 28 years old female, (postgraduate in MSc Business Economics and Finance from University of Surrey London, 2008) am involved in dairy farming since 2011 at our family farm in rural part of North West Indian State Uttar Pradesh.
I manage our dairy unit of 50 exotic – HF and Jersey Cross cows. We, at our farm, have built a modern dairy shed comprising of fans, foggers, automatic milking unit and all other facilities for efficient operations. Our dairy is considered to be amongst the best dairy farm in our state for having a good infrastructure, well bred high yield cows and good management practices. It is earning reasonable returns, then why is it that I am not contented and do not see these cows sustainable or our country’s future.
Holstien Friesian Cross is not a solution for dairy farming in India
The answer is simple because I have to think hundred times before recommending a small or medium farmer to buy these exotic high yielders.
I realised this the first time when a small very hard working farmer came up to me who had cattle shed big enough to accommodate two cows comfortably and asked me if he could also buy two high yielding HF cross cows and improve his agriculture income? My fear was not whether he will be able to afford these exorbitant cows but my concern was whether the cows will perform at his place where he will not be able to control / alter the environment for that breed to stay stress free and give milk.
In my five years of involvement in dairy I have visited majority of dairy farms in highest milk producing states of North India and almost all farms having crossbreeds are spending too much energy and resources to create ambient temperature for the crosses which cannot tolerate hot and humid weather of India. Despite huge expenditure we find that these cows face reproductive issues and average lactations are not more than 3, whereas our own heat tolerant cows are capable of giving on average 8 lactations.
This is the reality of the dairy industry in India where our obsession for Holstein Friesian crossbreeds which have not adapted to Indian conditions yet is affecting our country negatively. They might be capable of very high milk yields but there are limitations which severely affect their capacity as the cows are very vulnerable to tropical weather and diseases. Unlike our indigenous very good milch breeds such as Sahiwal and Gir, they also need to be kept in very high-cost, cool, all-weather shelters, and require much expensive stall feeding and medical care.
Clearly, the small farmer cannot bear these costs of rearing exotic crossbreeds. But because of negligence of our Government and policy makers, the low-maintenance, weather-resistant Indian breeds are continuing to decline. Rearing cattle, therefore, is becoming nonviable for small farmers.
Success of indigenous Gir breed in a tropical country – Brazil
Our own very high milk yielding cow Gir has been developed very successfully in a tropical country such as Brazil. Brazil started importing Gir cows from India way back in 1920s and now has developed great Gir genetics which has proved itself of superior milk yielding and disease resilient capabilities in country’s hot and humid climate. Markets from Australia to Brazil are seeking Indian origin pure cattle for their resilient qualities such as tick resistance, heat tolerance and the ability to flourish even with inadequate feeds.
Indian agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said, “Climate change will reduce productivity in all cattle. Drop in milk yield will be maximum in exotic breeds, not so in local Indian cattle.” Moreover when our cows have the capacity to perform better in terms of milk, climate change adaptability, disease tolerance and better feed conversion to milk then why are we ignoring them.
And for how long will we be able to alter the environment to make exotic cows perform to their potential. Even if few farms do succeed in creating that environment and take higher milk yields from few cows it is not sustainable agriculture as it is waste of our resources such as water, fuel, electricity, grains thereby further creating shortage of these resources and fueling up inflation in the economy.
Seed funding to sow seeds for developing superior Gir genetics in India
I would therefore like to work on Pure Gir breed and with this seed fund I would startup a project on these climate resilient cattle so that I have better idea of the performance of the breed in one year. I will purchase six best Gir cows from its breeding tracts along with semen of best bulls of Gir Genetics available from breeding centres such as Sabarmati Ashram Gaushala, Gujarat.
I will set aside $4200 to purchase about 6 pure Gir cows from its breeding tracts. It will cost me about $10 to purchase about twenty straws of Gir semen. About $400 will be used on Gir transportation from its breeding tract to our farm.
Insurance cost of cows for one year will cost about $100 and remaining $300 will be used in my own travel and accommodation to purchase the cows. It is not going to be difficult for me as I have my dairy setup to rear the cows and a separate space would be allocated to them.
Over a period of one year we will monitor their performance and shall have considerable data on their lactation length, total milk yields, health, maintenance costs, conception rate and number of off-springs and their reproductive performance. This will give us clear results on their suitability for dairy farming. I am sure that I will get good results from these cows and breed them with procured Gir semen of best bulls.
Having five years of dairy experience, it is not going to be difficult for me to identify pure Girs and purchase the most suitable ones. The project shall be expanded further with my own funds later on. At our farm since we have ample available green fodder, comfortable housing the cows will be reared properly from day one and we will be able to improve their genetic potential.
I am sure that these cows will lay strong foundation for dairy farming in India in time to come. It has become my strong desire to make dairy farming a happy and healthy venture for all farmers in India and I am committed to my endeavour.
Blogpost, video and picture submitted by Nikki Pilania Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh, India) – chaudharyfarms(at)gmail.com
The content, structure and grammar is at the discretion of the author only.
This post is published as proposal #7 of “YAP” – our “Youth Agripreneur Project”.
The first selection of the winners will be based on the number of comments, likes and views each proposal gets.
As a reader, you can support this speaker’s entry:
- Leave a comment (question, suggestion,..) on this project in the comment field at the bottom of this page
- Support the post by clicking the “Like” button below (only possible for those with a WordPress.com account)
- Spread this post via your social media channels, using the hashtag: #GCARD3
Have a look at the other “YAP” proposals too!
As a donor, support young agripreneurs and sponsor this unique project. Check out the side column for our current sponsors!
“YAP” is part of the #GCARD3 process, the third Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development.
The GFAiR Blog 
I sent my proposal today and i would like to know if u received it because I never got any response
Caroline,
I did not receive it.. Can you resend to p.casier@cgiar.org (and copy peter@blogtips.org). I have no idea why I did not receive this…
best,
Peter.
Great Insights Nikki !
Thanks Sharvi.☺
Wonderful Read, Bhabhi! Interesting to know how an Indian breed has adapted so well in Brazil. wonderful initiative you have going on. All the best! You are an inspiration. 🙂
Insightful, forward looking and progressive blog on dairy farming. Nikki, wish you and Gaurav the very best in all your endeavors, current and future. You guys make us proud!
Than you Vinay ji for keeping us motivated.
Got all these insights after spending five years in Dairy Farming and visiting majority of farms in India.
However I am happy to realise it quickly and being able to plan it all.
Beta
Happy to see your knowledge about dairy farming. Nikkki I want to visit your dairy farm for few hours, if it is possible, kindly send me the address and phone number.
With best of success and good luck to you and your husband.
Kind Regards
Yuour Mama
Ashok Kumar Saravat
Prerna,
Thankyou so much for your best wishes.
Yes very less people know about our own exceptional cattle breeds capabilities and I am trying my best to promote them.
I appreciate Nikki’s efforts a lot as her passion and support has made it possible to do so much in Dairy.
Gaurav I thankyou for being a wonderful and very cooperative Spouse. Without your support I would not have been able to do much. Your passion for Agriculture inspired me to contribute my efforts in the sector too.
Many thanks for the support.
That’s great Niki, I always appreciate efforts and work done by you. This is the thing actually we need for our sustainable future development and nations. Keep it up!
Many thanks Adnan for always appreciating our work and encouraging us.
Great thought Nikki g! I m also working on indigenous breed
Good to hear from you Viratji..It might take time to develop our Indigenous breeds but I am sure we can develop them as they have lot of potential to prove wonderful to Indian conditions.
Yes as stated by you very correctly we need to work in whichever field we can to ensure the sustaiabilty and securing our future generations and our planet.
Minor steps and beginnings lead to major developments.
The effort to develop Indian cattle is one such step in this direction.
निक्की ,बहुत अच्छा।इससे दुग्ध उत्पादकों को भी लाभ होगा साथ ही दूध की उपलब्धता कम कीमत पर होगी व ज्यादा होगी जिससे दूध का प्रयोग ज्यादा व्यक्ति व बच्चे कर सकेंगे।मात्रा बढने से मिलावट पर रोकथाम में सरकार को सरलता होगी तथा बच्चों को शुद्ध दूध मिल पायेगा।पर्यावरण सुधार मे अनेकों प्रकार से यह कदम लाभकारी होगा।निक्की ,इस काम को आगे बढाने के लिए हमारी शुभकामनाएं।
Thanks a lot Mummy ji for your best wishes and always supporting our work. Without the support if In laws it is difficult for a women to do anything but I am lucky to have caring and supporting In laws such as you and Papa.
Your wishes matter a lot to me.
Regards
Another very important point I would like to bring with the audience is the importance of gender equality. Females are very talented and hence they should be encouraged to contribute too whichever way they can.
Support of Husband and Inlaws becomes a deciding factor of her contribution after marriage.
So we all must work in cooperation as big things can happen with a strong team.
It is true as we will work in direction of developing our own cattle breeds, cost of producing milk will fall thereby making it profitable for farmers and at the same time keeping prices low for consumers thereby ensuring everyone has access to glass of milk per day.
In case of exotic breeds however there is being increase in cost of producing milk , lowering profitability of farms as a result of which farmer has no option but to increase price of milk thereby making it unaffordable for people to buy milk especially the poor ones.
I absolutely agree with you and compliment you for doing the right thing in Indian context. It is encouraging to see educated youth taking up dairy farming and implementing their knowledge and analytics for sustainable development and efficient production. Wishing you all the best.
Many thanks Sunilji for encouraging words. Support from people such as you keeps us going .
In Indian Dairy context the development of Indian capable milch breeds such as Gir is very vital for the future of Dairy farmers. Their development will bring in efficiency in the sector.
Youth especially the educated youth will understand my concerns and I am sure will led things in right direction.
Well done Nikki, great effort to increase milk production and quality in our country. My best wishes to you in this regard and for wellbeing of our cows..way to go
Thanks a lot Vishal Bhaiya for encouraging words. Yes I will put in best efforts to contribute whichever way I can to make agriculture very attractive to all especially through dairy development.
Thanks a lot Vishal Bhai for your encouraging words. I will do my best to make agriculture attractive for all especially through dairy development.
बहुत शानदार,देशी नस्ल की गायो के लिये आपका ये कार्य सराहनीय है।
Well done Nikki, gud to see youngsters like you are promoting dairy farming without much support by policy makers. Keep on doing the efforts and way to go. I wish you all the best.
The work which you’re doing is commendable. We need more people like you who work their trye potential where it’s needed the most.keepp up the good work.
Abhishek many thanks for your comment and thankyou for taking out precious time to read my blog.☺
Jitendra Uncle,
Thankyou so much for the best wishes. I am sure you will see me doing lot of things for Dairy Farmers in time to come.
Best Regards
Nikki
Hey Nikki it was a very educative… I have never known such detail about dairy farming. I believe sharing your experience and knowledge with others involved in this field will help take dairy farming on new levels and attract youth to get associated with such business. It is a great initiative and really appreciate your efforts as you want to improve dairy farming all across the country and helping small farms earn more profit keeping long run picture in mind. Way to go girl..!!! 😊
Many thanks Jyoti for going through the blog in detail and for your appreciation of our work.
Shall keep you updated of our progress on Dairy front.😀
Jyoti Bhbhii,
I remember when I first started working in Dairy after marriage and I knew nothing about Dairy. Al I knew was cows give milk but as i started to work and now in five years in Dairy I have understood in detail its complexities and solutions.
My aim to write the blog was to familiarize the audience and dairy farmers about our own breeds as these are neglected by all.
I chose Gir because I had an example of Brazil to showcase its capablities.
Yes if we start our work now on Indian breed development it might take time but in the long run it will improve dairy farming across India For sure.
Hi Nikki, As usual you again rocked by spreading your knowledge and experience to all Dairy Farmers without any support from Animal husbandry department. I agree at some point that HF, Jy are exotic and need more caring and at this stage, Govt of India can help the progressive Dairy Farmers by allowing Gir bull, semen and embryo from Brazil to India. While considering current scenario, HF is the only breed which maintains farm productivity , while adding Gir semen the farmers can incresing milk with more fat. Once again congratulate you for sharing such a informative thought.
Many thanks Rajeevji for reading my blog and sharing your views. Yes we will have discussions with our Government if we can improve genetic potential of our Gir breeds by importing Semen from Brazil of high genetic potential Gir Bulls. This will give jump to productivity of our Gir animls quickly.
I am sure ABS India must be working on it too.
It is true that the only high yielder in the country at the moment is HF but as I have mentioned in the blog the consequences of not working on own breeds are much higher to ignore.
Let us get started on improving Indigenous breeds so that Future is secure and we atleast have options to chose.
Hello Nikki Ji,
It’s great to learn that an abroad educated girl is seeing a future in dairy farming rather to be more precise in sustainable dairy farming, its overwhelming to see that you people have plans to breed and propogate our very own indigenous milch breeds as the likes of Girs, Sahiwals etc.
Furthermore, sticking by your words, yes i do agree that indigenous milch breeds are the future of dairy farming in our country. Moreover, i would suggest you to visit atleast for once,the Kankrej Dairy farm in Junagarh LRS farm in the college of veterinary science & animal husbandry, (Junagarh Agricultural University), Junagarh (Gujarat) coz they having animals with an avergae lactation yield of 3000 litres per lactaction. however, exceptional animals are yielding more than 6000 litres of milk per lactation. So, Kankrej animals can also be a very good option, as they are also very resilient and hardy even ahead of Gir, by virtue of their breeding tract, which is happen to be highly humid and hot, also non availability of green fodder.
Wishing you and Gaurav ji all the success in all your future endeavours.
Good Luck…..
Hello Shivamji
Many thanks for giving such an important information and contact. Yes I have plans to visit Gujarat to get good Gir Cows and I will now definitely visit Junagadh University.
I appreciate you took time to read the blog and for giving very crucial inputs.
Best Regards
Yes I will explore Kankrej breed too on my visit to Gujarat. This breed is another neglected Indian breed but very capable one.
Shivamji,
Appreciate your great advice and guidance on Gir. As stated by you we shall also see Kankrej Cows once we visit Gujarat .
Many thanks for your wishes.
Appreciate your great advice and guidance on Gir. As stated by you we shall also see Kankrej Cows once we visit Gujarat .
Many thanks for your wishes.
its good
Thanks.
bhut acha kiya ese project ki jrurt he aur age ye bijness secusfull b
hi he good
Thankyou Nikhil Bhai for your wishes and encouraging words.
Reblogged this on Sridhar Gutam.
Nikki, its indeed a very good initiative you have chosen. The development of climate resilient agriculture including the livestock is the need of the hour. Any attempt for the conservation or improvement of indigenous cattle which is climate resilient is very welcome. I am very much sure the proposal of yours would definitely brings up in the top position in the discussions related to the climate change stress mitigation strategies and gets accepted for funding. Wish you all the best.
Sridharji
Thanks for giving me such a positivity. Yes Climate Resilient Livestock has become very important work if we are to work in the direction of Sustainable Agriculture.
In this scenario it becomes equally important to develop our strong, climate resilient cattle which can perform well in lesser resources proving to be beneficial for small farmers too.
Thankyou once again
Great job Nikki keep up the good work very encouraging.
Thankyou Swati. I appreciate that you always read my blogs in your busy schedule.
Nikki, all the best to you in your dream project. Educated people like you are badly needed by India to develop the largely traditional agricultural sector. Wish you a great success.
Thanks a lot Gopiji for your wishes. Yes number of educated people in agriculture is less however there is being an increase in the involvement of youth in agriculture as I can see especially on platforms such as this one. It is always great to see youth seriously involved in different areas of agriculture across globe. I am sure there will be increased involvement of youth in timed to come and such activities as this one to give seed fund to entrepreneurs will keep them motivated and connected.
Good efforts and very promoting role played by different agricultural organisations too.
I appreciate their efforts too.
Great thought Nikki. I agree with you that any business particularly agri related should take into account the local conditions. I am sure your efforts will make a meaningful contribution towards optimising the use of resources
Rohitji,
Thanks for your appreciation. Yes by considering our local environment before chosing the right crops and right Livestock as it will lead to optimal use of our resources and prove viable for farmers also.
This would be beneficial for environment as well as for economical well being of society , country and globe.
Hi Nikki, Wonderful!! A great success you are going to achieve in this field. Our country requires such intellectuals who can help us develop and providing opportunity of growth without effecting our environment as we have already seen the carbon emissions effect in the recent Paris summit, on whole world. I think it will also indirectly help efficient utilisation of natural resources. Good Luck..👍👍
Hi Payal,
Thanks a lot for going through the blog and giving your best wishes. Yes definitely the work on Indigenous breed is in the direction to efficiently use our resources making it important work in the direction of Sustainable Agriculture.
Thats great appreciatble effort and work done by you this is the thing need youngster develop future and you are promoting dairy farming it is very important you are sharing your knowledge and experience and this is right time to promoting this type of ideas and this type of business opportunities becoz our government also supported through start up and in future broad opportunities we are very impressed with your business and ideas
You r true champ. Keep it up
Wish you all the best
best of luck my best wishes always with u
Thanks a lot bhai for always appreciating our efforts. I am sure with blessings of you all we will always work in right path.
Yes we will make best use of the opportunities to promote and develop Indigenous breeds.
Great work nikki.. lots of interesting facts.. keep it up..
Thankyou Sukanya for your best wishes.😊
Nikki – this is brilliant, thought provoking blog. It’s great to see such passion in what you do! Keep up the great work and look forward to reading more great blogs from you.
This is commendable
Thankyou
Aruna- Many thanks for your appreciation and motivation. I am sure under your guidance I will learn a lot more.
Hi Nkki. I appreciate your zeal and passion towards dairy sector. Your blog addresses a very important issue. These days when most of the organised dairy farms are following the trend of keeping the livestock from imported gene pool, it’s time to step back and re-look at the alternatives which are better suited to Indian conditions and more sustainable. I found your blog on “climate resilient Indian cattle” very relevant and informative. Wishing you all the best.
Hello Anujaji,
Many many thanks for your comment. Appreciation from people such as you make us even more determined to work sincerely in Dairy Farming and other such agriculture related activities.
Yes there is need to work on our own breeds because the exotic genes will have health issues as temperature is rising every year. Before it is too late for all of us to realise the environmental and economic negative impact it is important for us to take lead in the direction and aware farmers but this will happen only once we have results of Indigenous breeds at our own far.
Hey nikki. .great article as you always make the best out of odds.. your hard work and intellect can clearly be seen in your projects .you’ve very tactfully addressed serious ground level issues like insurance, poverty, stress issues in cattle. Great work. All the very best
Thanks a lot Anshu for your encouraging words. Your wishes matter a lot to me.
Regards
As mentioned by you that by developing own gir breeds we will also address issues such as cattle stress, poverty.
Developing Indigenous breeds and putting emphsis on them would imply we are minimising number of stressed and disease cows, creating much more heathier domestic breeds by rearing them properly and hence creating viable source of income for small farmers too.
Well done Nikki, it was very informative Blog about cows . And its really make sense to understand the adaptability of the animal in native or foreign environment in order to yield their products.
Yes Rahul ji our since our animals adapt well to the local environment hence they can prove to be much better performers . All we need to do is work on them to improve their genetic potential which has been neglected until now.
gud going di…. keep it up….. u wl get great success in ths….
Anuradha Di,
Good to always get your best wishes.
Regards
It’s very significant information described by the blogger. HF is high productive cow. But farmers lacks proper maintenance.It’s really great to read experience of blogger about dairy farming in India.
Hi Suyash
It is true HFs are high yielder and equally true that farmers are not able to maintain them well. The reason is they need too much care and hence becomes very costly for a farmer to take milk from them. The main reason is under hot weather they easily come into stress. Unless comfortable air cooled arrangements along with much higher nutrition requirements are fulfilled these cows just for not perform.
So why should not work on our own cattle breeds which are easy to maintain, are better converters of feed to milk, ticks free and disease resistant.
If we breed them well and improve their genetic potential then our farming community will be benefitted, consumers will get healthier milk and at cheaper rates.
At present small farmer can neither afford to buy hfs nor has any option to buy locally developed good Indian breeds.
Yes, we should develop our indigenous cows. Their milk is considered as an elixir, as declared by our ancient sages. Indian cow’s milk is a satvik food which has a propitious effect on body, mind and intellect. It is the duty of every Indian to protect and bred these cows so that every Indian is raised on such as wonderful food.
Yes Saurabh Bro the milk of our cows is undoubtedly healthy as cows themselves stay healthy.
The plan is to bring Indigenous cows first at our farm breed them with good genetics develop the breed and showcase to farmers so that they start believing that our cattle breeds are no less and can perform much better in every way and that too at lesser cost.
This way there will be expansion and development of our own breeds.
I am putting in all efforts to develop our cows.
Great work. Keep it up..
Varun ji thankyou for appreciating our work.
Excellent research work and knowledge sharing !
Keep it up…Nikki
All the very best!!!!
Nishant Bhaiya …Thankyou for appreciating our work always. Please visit our Dairy to see new developments.
Good initiative, we have to develop our Zebu Breeds such like Gir who gives more Milk like HF Breed and have good Immunity and good Milk Fat and SNF , its our pride .
Very well said Manoj ji ….Gir can give as much milk as hfs can give but at much lesser cost as they adapt well to hot climate.
And very true the fat percentage of Gir cows is much higher than Hfs.
Hi Nikki , looking thoroughly at your article , I have some questions or rather curiosity in my mind. If you can answer these, I would really appreciate ..
Sure Vishal Bhai….it is in fact very encouraging to see people taking so much interest in blog…
As we all know that gir breed is originating in India so from where I can buy or suggest someone to buy a good gir breed.
Gir breed is originally from Gujarat State and that one is its breeding tract.
In Gujarat Junagarh and Rajkot are the places where we can buy good Gir Cows from.
Also in Ajmer area of Rajasthan one can get good Gir Cows.
My other question is that how can we improve and take proper care of this breed of gir cows as these are one of the best milk yielding cows.
We as farmers will need to rear at our farms , breed them with best bulls Semen and we will get calves of good genetic potential.
These cows are on decline and the reason is we have undermined their potential.
so unless we start rearing them well on our own they will diminish. ..
These are undoubtedly country’s one of the best mulch breeds but declining over the years.
Thank you so much mam !
Its all very useful for newly farmers who want to do this work in proper way. Yor suggestions, ideas n efforts are appreciable.
I m also interested in doing this work but not having proper knowledge n other issues, couldn’t.
I hv seen yor dairy farming settlement one time But in future I would like to use yor suggestions n Ideas for dairy work.
Pankajji,
Please visit us anytime you feel you need anykind of information related to Dairy.
I do understand that in order to rear cows properly one needs to have basic knowledge of its nutritional requirements, health management, breeding etc.
our farmers have been able to manage successfully our all weather resistant cattle breeds but dairy is becoming challenging or risky with the emphasis on exotic breeds who need much more care and precise nutrition to be managed perfectly. This is something which can only be pursued by large farmers which is why I am so concerned about dairy which I feel should be a easy to do work for everyone and be pursued by small or marginal ones too.
My last question but not the least is that why this breed has been neglected in India besides our country is known as agricultural based all over the world. Please go through these questions and views. Thanks Nikki and all the best for your work.
Vishal Bhai,
India is endowed with good agricultural land, worlds best buffaloes- Murrah, great milch breeds – Gir, Sahiwal and Kankrej but I am not sure how much we have valued our own possessions.
It is unfortunately the negligence on part of our Institutes and policy makers who failed to recognise their potential and hence never developed these already high potential breeds. Holstein Friesian cows were introduced in India and there was no policy to keep in check to maintain appropriate crosses as per the weather onditions of India.
Farmers are breeding cows with very high purity bulls as a result of which our domestic gene is becoming recessive and exotic genes are becoming dominant.
This is going to be troublesome in time to come as these cows will just not be able to tolerate anykind of heat stress and will always demand for nothing but cool environment throughout the year when major part of Indian weather is hot.
Any kind of heat stress will either reduce their milk yields, make them repeat breeders, induce other problems which can become extremely costly for farmers.
Farmers do say that they are difficult to manage but still just on the basis of their milk yields(which is subject to condition that good expenditure will be incurred on their housing, food) they are keeping these cows.
This is not sustainable agriculture and I really want to get it corrected so the best I can do is to take the lead because only then it is going to be easy to explain to others too.
Pilania ji
Really, you are a great person .You take a good work of fresh milk in your hand. We would like suggest our youth and specially ladies to inspire from you. In our country there are our tradition and our culture that we are taking milk as complete foods and all Indian worship cow as mother i.e. Gau Mata and our country i.e. Bharat Mata .
Now everyone is too busy to serve cow and none place to keep cow in one’s house. So in this time we are all have a very essential requirements of fresh cow milk.
I have visited your dairy and found your fully devotion for livestock. Undoubtedly, your little effort will give a great inspiration to all of us. Later, you will have your name more elevated, that wish.
Ram Sewak Mishra
Mishra Uncle ji ,
I am glad that you like our work in Dairy and our efforts. Yes in India milk of our cows is considered complete food. India largely being a vegetarian country derives 60 percent of its protein requirement from milk.
Earlier every farmer had a cow or two and had enough milk, butter and curd to serve family’s nutritional requirement. Even at places where small farmers are keeping desi breeds they are doing well as these cows can be managed very well.
I wish to bring back the culture of keeping our easy to maintain yet high perfoming breeds back to as many small farmers as is possible.
Your best wishes will enable me do so.
Great work Nikki !! Very interesting information about cows. keep up the good work. You will surely get great success. All the very best !!
Monisha,
Happy to see you best wishes. Its long time since you visited farm. Have a look at developments that are taking place.
Yet another blog which is mind storming….
Love your spirit in taking and Inspiring others to take path and employ methods which questions the typical mindset and culture. All the best for your new venture. The youth today must learn to respect dairy farming because the way you guys doing it,it looks like a promising venture. Good going Nikki and Gaurav👍👏👏🙏
Neelam Di,
Attitude determines ones altitude.
Same holds for agriculture too. This profession is the best one if pursued passionately.Yes challenges are there because agriculture in India has been neglected and perceived to be for the lesser educated ones. Modernisation has not taken place but I am sure involvement of educated youth can bring tremendous change in perception of society towards it.
I am very positive that many good things will take place in Agriculture Sector in time to come.
great efforts and looking progressive…specially there are lots of benefits to farmers…may ur project and efforts get success soon…very inspirable for youth also..
Bhaniji
Yes the idea of having and developing good potential Indigenous cows is not only sustainable but carry huge benefits for small and marginal farmers for whom it will be easier to maintain these cows and make some returns from dairy also which at the moment is becoming tough because of increased emphasis and availability of exotic cows.
Great work keep it up 👍🏾👍🏾
Ajit Bhaiya do visit our Dairy Unit to see the progress. And thankyou for your best wishes.
Considering the climate conditions and general financial status of average Indian milk producer, HF cows are difficult to maintain. Considering a few lactation and high cost of maintaining these breed is not viable. Our own GIR and SAHIWAL, breed has proved that these are the need of hour. I hope and wish that your efforts and initiative will bring a revolution in milk section.
Your efforts and initiative will bring a positive change in milk sector of our country. Keep up the good work.
Better late then never. Narendra Uncle thankyou for the wishes and yes I will be most happy if we can contribute the best in Dairy to impact lives of Farmers positively in the country .
India being a huge country with massive population, and majority of people being vegetarian, demand of milk is enormous. Considering the climate conditions and general financial status of average Indian milk producer, HF cows are difficult to maintain. Considering a few lactation and high cost of maintaining these breed is not viable. Our own GIR and SAHIWAL, breed has proved that these are the need of hour. I hope and wish that your efforts and initiative will bring a revolution in milk section.
You are very right in pointing that given the Indian climatic conditions and financial status of average farmers Holstein friesian breed is not the solution as they are too costly to maintain whereas Breeds such as Sahiwal or Gir in Cows and Murrah in buffalo can add to the revenue of all farmers including the small and marginal ones.
We cannot leave our small farmers behind . We have to take them ahead along with us for the betterment of all.
Great effort Nikki. It takes a lot to do all the research and come up with a move forward plan! And you have done it again 🙂
Wish you all the best!
Aanu
Aanu Di,
Yes after spending five years day and night in Dairy Sector we realised this one very important aspect which we need to work upon. Let us see how everything goes but determined to do whatever is best for dairy farming.
Thankyou for your wishes.
Nikki mam
Well done good work in progressive Dairy Farming with my Big brother Mr. Gaurav Choudhary I am appreciate you.because you provide quality milk & High yeilder Breed in Dairy sector.
Great work with Family in Dairy sector keep it up
Mukeshji ,
Thanks for the appreciation. It is very true that Gaurav has played a very crucial role in Dairy and he has been very encouraging Spouse as well as Dairy Partner throughout. I admire him for his passion for the Agriculture Sector and thank him for his all time support.
Dear Nikki and Gaurav
It is really very much encouraging to see young professional giving the direction to the Dairy Farming, I certainly agree with you that there is a need to develop indigenous breeds whether it is Sahiwal, Gir or Kankrej. These are certainly neglected breeds and very little has been done to improve the milk potential.
Wishing you a great luck and success in what you are doing.
Raina Sahab,
Thankyou for the motivation and wishes.
Sandeep ji,
Great to see your comment. Thankyou for the best wishes and we hope to keep getting guidance on this from you.
Regards
Not only the Indian capable milk breeds such as Sahiwal, Gir amongst cattle and Murrah Buffalo have been neglected but they are also underestimated by our people, farmers and poilicy makers.
It is the duty and responsibilty of Policy makers to take decisions which are beneficial not only for people but which also do justice to our environment and our resources.
Farmers are taught that exotic things are good and Indigenous are not.
However I am sure the new Indian Government will bring the change in this regard too.
Good job good work
Thanks Shailendraji.
Dear Nikki ji,
It’s good that you think of our Indian breeds too but as you know presently we don’t have high yielding Zebu cattle for which we have to develop our breed too and this require lot of patience.Although you have lot of agricultural land you can rear them even with low milk yield as compared to cross breads. But as compared to human population in India total milk production is still not enough.Any ways you start with few cattle in the beginning no harm.
Bhargavji
I know a lot needs to be done to develop our own breeds but today is the time to take action before we regret later on.
Once breeding of Zebu with good Semen starts we will start getting good calves and good genetics. We will soon have equally good cows which I am sure if we start working on them now.
See we cannot neglect Indian Cows more now and need to work on their development also.
Yes I will work on them and promote them among other farmers too.
They will believe when i will have results to show which I will ensure through my best management practices and breed development.
hii
My self Amit Kumar Mukherjee from Pilibhit I appreciate for all dairy business persons. They are very excellent work for dairy industry. They are provide fresh Cows milk as well as buffaloes milk very Genuinely. The fresh cow and buffalo milk not genuinely provided a big milk producers such as like amul, mother dairy and extra companies, but the dairy milk producers very fresh and very genuinely provide to common people or we can say thay general people. I again appreciate for all dairy milk producers they have such wonderful work and lots of effort for this particular dairy industry and I am also appreciate to Mrs. Nikki ji she is very excellent work dairy industry and i wish she is grow up this dairy industry in future.
Amit ji
Many thanks for your appreciation of our work in Dairy.
हमारे देश में आप ने दूध उत्पादन और गुणवत्ता बढ़ाने के लिए प्रयास किया ।शुभकामनाएं
Shalendraji,
Many many thanks for your best wishes.
Great work Nikki !!!! I don’t have much knowledge about dairy farming but after reading your blog have come to know the importance of dairy farming.. It is really very informative and inspiring for young farmers to work in this field.I pray to almighty that you get success in your future projects too.all my wises are with you.stay blessed .
Sunita Ma’am
It is so wonderful feeling to get blessings from our School Teachers. Ma’am many thanks for reading the blog and your best wishes.
Your blessings mean a lot to me.
Best Regards
Very informative, your writing shows that you have deep understanding of dairy farming. I am sure you will have great success in the long-term and this new approach will make a change across India!
Nora
I hope to bring as much positive change as I can in Dairy Sector. Thankyou for your best wishes.
Real eye opening that Brazil is importing our own Gir and developing it accordingly, but here people are obsessed with HF…I appreciate your zeal and passion Nikki. All the best.
Anshuji
Yes Brazil has overtime developed great Gir Genetics by importing from India and it has adapted very well in tropical climate and challenged our policy makers who always underestimated this
breed.
Let us see how and what I will be able to do to improve the scenario. All I want is to bring the best in our cows.
Excellent work Nikki…keep progressing…
All the best..
Shobha
Thankyou for your motivation and best wishes.
Wish you luck ! Going great
Thankyou Prakashji.
Nikki, I am happy for you for the career path you have chosen. I believe that you will benefit from it on a personal level. I also think that your success in this regard will bring tremendous benefit to your society and country.
It is important for you to leverage on what other people and institutions have achieved. Dr Shuvam Dubey talked about an Agriculture University. Try to visit them and see if there is a way you can learn from the progress they have made. You equally quoted your Agriculture Minister, Mohan Singh. This means you dairy farmers can build a coalition and human-platform you can use to snatch assistance from government. You also talked about the progress that has been made in Brazil. Why not form an association which will serve as a vehicle for seeking of support from government so that you can connect with relevant partners in Brazil in order to make quick progress in creating an Indian breed of cow that is productive at a low cost..
I wish you success on this project Nikki
Regards from Audu Usman
Abuja, Nigeria
+234 80 5849 8808
auduusman69@yahoo
Audu,
I am really happy to see that you have spent time to understand my project in detail and what I wish to do. That really needs patience especially from people who have no such farming background.
Audu- As you have pointed that we should seek help from Government as it will add benefit to farmers and our own breeds, I am taking steps in this regard too. I am in touch with premier Dairy Institute NDRI , Karnal India for their assistance. I have also shared my ideas and thoughts with dairy farmers in my region and in North India through Whats App Group and telephonically. Many farmers do feel that work on development of Indigenous breeds should start soon.
I am also in touch with Semen providing company ABS-India to work on logistics to get pure Gir Semen from Brazil for which they are ready to support us.
I will soon be visiting Gujarat and Junagarh University to see Gir cows and if I get Seed Fund I will quickly buy the cows to start the work which undoubtedly will have long term benefit on society and our country as once started at our farm it has to be promoted aggressively with farmers too.
Very informative bhabhi. Wish you all the success..hoping it benefits all.. Inspiring as always. Great work!
Sonal,
Yes the most important purpose of this activity being taken up by me is to benefit maximum people and dairy farmers. The beginning has to take place so that the success can be shared with others too and farmers start taking interest in underestimated Indian breeds.
Many thanks for your wishes.
An Absolute Efforts by U mam…. i just expecting the same in our Maharashtra state…..but things apart..,hats off mam…U r going towards profitable Direction of Dairy Business
Nikhilji,
I guess in Maharashtra State farmers are working quite well on Indian Murrah Buffaloes which is a good scenario. Though upcoming dairy farms are working on HFs.
Please visit our farm in Uttar Pradesh and we can discuss the developments in detail of Dairy Farming in your State too.
Iam intrested in starting a Gir Cow dairy farm in Bangalore if you could guide me with your know how on dairy
The blog is good Nikki, but the real effort and beauty is standing up for it. Great!! Actually many people know about the fact that Indian breed gir cows are more climate accustomed than hf for India but nobody has the courage to stand out. It’s your go getter spirit and independent thought process that today has brought it to notice of so many.
Having information is nice, sharing it makes you better but standing up for what you believe in is the best. Thousands of gir cows and small scale dairy farmers will be very thankful to you in coming years. Attain, Apply and Educate!!
You are very good at it.
Suvrata Bhabhi,
Your blessings and motivation keeps me going. Yes many farmers are aware of the fact but still nobody is thinking beyond HFs.
I will follow your advice and try my best to attain as much as I can , apply the knowledge and educate as many as I can and this will give memaximum happiness.
Many thanks once again for so positive and meaningful words.
Regards
Nikki
that is incredible nikki, keep up the good work. with the pace in which you are moving, the sky will be your starting point.
Peter,
Positive words from people from different corners of the world gives me strength and encourages me to do the best I can and certainly now it is my responsibility to meet everyones expectations of making Dairy Farming a very promising venture for all.
Thanks a lot for your best wishes Peter.
Hello Nikki ji. …I completely agree to what you have said about HF …my personal experience is the same.
I wish you luck for your new project. Hope this wiĺl help all the dairy framers.
Hello Nikki ji. ..I completely agree to what you have said about HF. My personal experience also supports all what you have said. From past one year I am dealing with HF and I am facing lot of aclimiatisation issues.
I wish you luck for your new project and hope it will help all of us in this field. I also appreciate your thought process.
Hello Nikki ji. ..I completely agree to what you have said about HF. My personal experience also supports all what you have said. From past one year I am dealing with HF and I am facing lot of aclimiatisation issues.
I wish you luck for your new project and hope it will help all of us in this field. I also appreciate your thought process
Vivekji ,
Though farmers who have experience, essential knowledge are able to take returns from HF based dairy but any knowledge gap makes it a costly affair as I have mentioned in my post. These cows are prone to come in stress quickly as they are not adaptable to Indian weather and if farmer fail to make adjustments very quickly in terms of housing environment, nutrition he is bound to make huge losses.
So to address these problems I feel we should work on developing our cattle breeds which all farmers can easily maintain.
Though we will have to develop them but it is better late than never.
I read a lot of dedication to this cause in your words, Nikki, and it makes me very proud. Moreover you have sincerity towards Mother Earth, towards your country and towards the people around you, other farmers…This is a rare trait in today’s world and I salute you, mon enfant!
I look forwards to following your journey and wish you effortless success in your endeavours and undertakings!
Bonne chance, cherie!
Merci Gita Madame,
Blessings from Teachers gives me immense Happiness. It is true I am making best possible efforts in agriculture, Dairy and among farmers so as to bring positive change in these area.
Many many thanks for your best wishes.
Best Regards
Nikki
निक्की जी, बहुत खुशी हुई कि आप उच्च शिक्षित महिला हैं और आप ने डेयरी फार्मिंग में सुधार की जो पहल की है, अत्यंत ही सराहनीय है। भौगोलिक जलवायु परिवर्तन के अनुरूप उन्नत किस्म की नस्लों के विकास तथा संरक्षण से डेयरी उधोग को नई पहचान मिलेगी जिससे छोटे तथा गरीब किसानों को भी लाभ मिलेगा। डेयरी फार्मिंग के प्रति लोगों में आकर्षण बढेगा जिससे अधिकतम लोगों को अधिकतम लाभ पहुंचेगा।
मेरी शुभकामनाएं हैं कि आप का यह कार्यक्रम आपको विश्वस्तरीय पहचान दिलाये।
——डॉ.रजनीश गंगवार
इलाहाबाद।
Dr Rajneeshji,
Yes with development of our own breeds small farmers will benefit too and will be able to have alternate source of income and also this will increase milk availabilty.
Journey is long but change has to take place today.
Thankyou for your wishes.
Reblogged this on nikkipilania.
Hello Nikki & Gaurav-Bhai
Congratulation on bringing up this topic of indigenous cows and their development here in the country itself, we need initiative like your to remind ourselves that a long overdue task of improving genetics is still pending. We need a very strategic and sustained vision to get to solution quickly.
However that challenge remains the course hereditary and inheritance takes, which is not always as simple as the “Father of Genetics” Mr. Mendal observed in his early glimpse through the qualitative traits of the pea plant. Unfortunately ( only from milk production perspective ) in cows and other animals like human, selection on the basis of one qualitative characters may leads to a long time (100years ) to get to a sustained breed solution, Rather a mix of Quantitative (supported by university extensions like NDRI, Pant Nagar, JNKVV Jabalpur ) and Qualities effort from farmers like you are needed. of-course need big herd size at one placed under one environment and input condition.
Initiative such as yours need government and private endorsement, on strategic and long term basis; We are working ( not in the filed ) with some of these scientist and in IISc, NCBS again in Bangalore, to get their support we would need a collective movement to impress that we are thinking in line of farmers interest and have been mandated by government; again a time taking process but certainly we can trigger that instance.
Again, I would say that you are lucky that age is on your side, but unless you remain focused and funded getting to a productive end is challenging… My observations are not at all discouraging, but make a right comment at right time to help you building temperament and patience for the cause.
We are devoted to commercial farming first and therefore to HF and Jersey combination works for us, but as we all grow and come together with a profitable commercial market funding then our path become more paved for smooth learning and productive cause; We might as well form a group and import genetics from Brazil and ANZ ( for sahiwal blood line).
Nikki – you are a economics grad and therefore you definitely know that commerce has to happen first and everything else will follow
All the very best;
Pankaj Navani
+91-96-11-896764
Chief Executive
Binsar Farms Pvt. Ltd.
Pankaj Bhai,
Thankyou for very informative comment. Let us explore together how we can contribute to improving Indian genetics.
It is indeed great work u r doing its education for us also may all your efforts see success n u make a name for yourself loads of luck
Great too see your comment Ma’am. Many thanks for your blessings.
The thought has started but unless we are able to get together to work on this very important area of Breed development of Indian cows our farmers will keep working in the direction which they mistakenly believe it to be the best because they are kept ignorant on best possible scenario.
Time has come to showcase the farmers all the possibilities and to act upon them.
Hey Nikki,
It’s nice to know about your project. We are totally in the wrong way. One day we will surely loose our pure local breeds. There are so many indigenous breeds in different domains of asia which are adaptive to the changing climate ! Best of luck for your project !
Regards,
Madan
http://madanpoudel.com.np/
Thanks for sharing your views Madan. Let us see if the work on developing and promoting climate resillient livestock begins now by National Governments.
Earlier the better.
Madan as rightly pointed by you that we have gone totally wrong by neglecting Our breeds, our crops and our rich possessions which is not only unsustainable but becoming very costly for the farmers and consumers by putting stress on our resources.
Great work Nikki ji,,,,,,all the best….
Great work nikki ji……..wish you all the best.
Thankyou Naveen Ji.
DEAR NIKKI JI_YOU ARE A LUCKY WOMAN.I read a lot of dedication to this cause in your words, Nikki, and it makes me very proud. Moreover you have sincerity towards Mother Earth, towards your country and towards the people around you, other farmers…This is a rare trait in today’s world and I salute you, mon enfant!
Thanks so much Shaliniji for your best wishes.
Pankaj ji,
Thanks for sharing deep insights into breed development. It is very true that breed improvement of our cows will take time here in India as work on them has just not been done at all.
This is my biggest concern as in face of climate change how long will we rely on high milk yielders , best available cattle genetics HFs but not at all adaptable to Indian climatic conditions making them costly to work on .
You are very right in saying that to work on Indian Cattle Development Government, Dairy Institutes will have to come forward and pursue it aggressively. That is all I want that steps should begin so that we have solution ready for future Generations to come.
I will be in touch with you and let us see how we as Dairy Farmers can pursue this our best.
Nikki
It is very helpful information for Indian farmers.
Wish u all the best.
Thanks a lot Mohitji. By sharing the blog with other farmers I have given them a little bit idea on more and better can be done in Dairy.
Nikki ji first of all thanks to write such important topic and then heads off for your great dedication in field of dairy production and breeding now a days very big problem of fresh and pure milk production every where if we can purchase a fresh milk that time one question arise in our mind this milk is fresh or not my mean without adulterated but we have no answer because shortage of milk production. I wish you good luck for your new project and hope it will help all of us in this field. I also appreciate your thought.
Vivekanandji,
Yes there is increasing shortage of pure milk in India. Much of it is adulterated and the solution is in promoting dairy farming amongst all – small farmers too.
The promotion of climate resilient Indigenous Breed can help solve many problems being faced in Dairy Industry as well as meet the shortage of milk supply.
Thankyou for the wishes.
Good thought Nikki. It’s a time to go back to our roots or in other words local species may it be cows, dogs or other plant species. I would like to suggest just one thing that if possible increase the number of cows so the results can be interpreted more scientifically.
Sandeepji ,
You are very right on your suggestion to increase more cows for results to be interpreted in a better way. I will surely buy few more with my own fund.
Thankyou for your advice.
Nikki!!! Fabulous work done,but this is not the end go ahead with innovative ideas to boost the dairy sector,wishing u a good luck.
Thanks Abha Ma’am.
Imran ji
Thankyou for your appreciation of our work and encouraging words. I am completely focussed on Dairy and i am sure with this dedication I will come up with innovative ideas to make it a very promising venture for many farmers.
Hi Nikki, this is truly a good eye opener. Am sure you did your homework well in terms of cost of production rearing native cattle. It will be great if you could share some economics which will help start ups in dairy.I am impressed with Mr.Radha Mohan Singh’s relativity to the climate change factor, makes sense. I wish you all the very best in your venture and look forward to more updates.
Cheers!
Tharaniji
First of all many thanks for taking deep interest in Dairy Blogpost.
I have presented my blog and understanding more in terms of sustainability of our Indigenous livestock in long run. As far as economics is concerned I have strong feeling as explained in above blog that as we will work towards breed improvement of the Indian Milch Breeds given the fact that they are resistant to diseases and adapt well to Indian climate will first of all ensure reduced maintenance, medical costs.Good Gir can also give average milk of 15 litres per day which is comparable to what most dairy farmers are taking from hfs in India.
Compared to Exotic their feed conversion to milk is also higher.
Also here in India rate of milk is decided based on fat percentage which in case of Indian breeds is about 5 percent compared to just 3.5 in case of HFs.
Definitely I see it much more viable and also people want Desi milk and ready to pay higher price for it.
Nikki its good to see u working in this field which is very much important for our new generation. Keep it up,my and nitin’s wishes r always with u to grow more n more. God bless u.
Vinita Bhabhiji,
Many thanks for your best wishes and yours and Bhaiyas blessings.
I will do my best to do best for Agriculture.
Nikki
HI Nikki, Ur r a best Entrepreneur and ur Project also good one. This such kind of project can get increase our country growth. This is really appreciable work.
I want also join ur project . Please contact me @ Nareder kumar Verma or 9466555103 (whatsup)
MOb. – 7503576601
Hello Narendraji
Thanks for appreciating my work. I am trying whatever little I can contribute in the field of Dairy.
It would be great if we all join hands and work together collectively.
Please do visit our farm in Pilibhit. We can discuss in detail on the project.
Nikki
Madam,
Good article, well articulated an alternative way to look at dairy farming in Indian conditions. I have following observations on the same, which may help you to improve it.
1. There are many factors responsible for low profitability/losses of dairy farming in India, mainly low milk price, poor management, high feeding costs and low knowledge/training of dairying. Therefore breed/type of the animal is not ONLY factor, which is problem (Exotic) or solution (Indigenous) to dairy farming.
2. Article is based on following assumption that: cost of managing Exotic cows in tropical condition more than all its benefit over desi cows. It would have been better if it can be supported by some calculation or estimate.
3. Economics of commercial dairy farming of Desi cows yet to be proved. Is Consumer is ready to premium price? If yes. Then can it be done on large scale? I have doubts.
4. There are many challenges in developing desi breed it require lot of investments and time. Do Dairy farmers have that capacity?
But I agree and support that those dairy farmers who are doing well with exotic breed should try to rear few desi cows.
Pawan Dixitji ,
Good to see dairy farmers such as you participating and having discussions on the blog and at the moment very important topic in our country Desi v/s Exotic Breeds.
Yes all the points that you have made are correct.
As mentioned by you the whole idea of my article is that Indian Breeds have not been developed in India but our own Gir breed which has been developed elsewhere (Brazil) is showing very promising results in terms of milk yields , feed conversion to milk, disease resistance and adaptability to tropical climate. Hence overall proving to be a very viable cow there.
Success of Gir elsewhere makes a valid case to be pursued aggressively here in India.
Madam,
Good article, well articulated an alternative way to look at dairy farming in Indian conditions. I have following observations on the same, may be helpful to you.
1. There are many factors responsible for low profitability/losses of dairy farming in India, mainly low milk price, poor management, high feeding costs and low knowledge/training of dairying. Therefore breed/type of the animal is not ONLY factor, which is problem (Exotic) or solution (Indigenous) to dairy farming.
2. Article is based on following assumption that: cost of managing Exotic cows in tropical condition more than all its all benefit over desi cows. It would have been better if it can be supported by some calculation or estimate.
3. Economics of commercial dairy farming of Desi cows yet to be proved. Is Consumer is ready to premium price? If yes. Then can it be done on large scale? I have doubts.
4. There are many challenges in developing desi breed it require lot of investments and time. Do Dairy farmers have that capacity?
But I agree and support that those dairy farmers who are doing well with exotic breed should try to rear few desi cows.
Nikki ji…. Thanks for showing such interest in Dairy. Today nobody talks how to minimize production cost. I think this a way we can make dairy farming a profitable business for small n big farmers..
But you should use brazil girnaldo semen for better production..
Wish you n Gaurav ji all the best..
Nitin Bhai,
Thankyou for the best wishes.
Wonderful concept!!
Thanks a lot Ma’am
nikki ji …thanks for showing such interest in dairy farming. Today no one talks to minimize production cost. This is one of the way how we can minimize the cost for big and small farmers.
but I think you should use Brazil girnaldo semen for better production….
I wish you n gaurav ji a great future in dairy industry …
Nitinji,
Good to read your views. Yes cost minimisation is very important for better utilisation of resources.
Yes I will definitely be using Girolando too as this is the only Semen that is available of Gir cross from Brazil in India. However I am trying if we can also get pure Gir Semen from Brazil too as it will improve our Genetics quickly and give jump to Our Milch Breeds.
Thanks for your wishes
Hi Nikki. Great work… Keep it up. As I am also a newcomer in dairy farming facing the same problem. I have mix breed herd in my farm (Sahiwal,HF, Jersey, Indian) and planning to switch it into Indian breeds only as I get some good results with these cows.
Looking forward to your experiments. (y)
Mohitji
Many thanks for your very important Insight . Getting such inputs from dairy farmers enables us to do better comparison between HFs and Indigenous.
Since you have Indian breeds- Sahiwal and Gir as well as exotic ones Jersey and HF, could you please tell more on why you are planning to switch to Indian Breeds.
Well done! you are well on track to solve the problem! we do talk a lot about indigenous cows but do too little to improve the situation. Hopefully your work will show some direction ! best wishes!
Dr Mahesh Chander, ICAR- Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar
Mahesh ji ,
Good to see response coming from Premiere Institutes in our Country such as yours- Indian Council Of Agricuture Research.
Yes very little has been done on breed improvement of our capable Indigeneous Cows. It is the responsibilty of Premiere Institutes to frame policies and take such important decisions which are crucial to overall health of Environment and People.
I feel really disappointed to see no detailed or serious work ever done on developing these cattle breeds.
NDRI , Karnal however has been working on development of Sahiwal, Murrah Buffaloes and has recently introduced Gir for its genetic improvement.
I will continue making efforts in this direction too because this is the future of our farmers, our dairy sector, our people and hence Globe.
When Institutes Fail Private efforts become important and I will continue to make the efforts unless I succeed.
I hope that Institutes such as Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) and Indian Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) do take initiative in this regard too because these are policy making institutes and should ensure that policies are framed in a way which are also Sustainable and beneficial for future generations.
I Think it is a wonderful task done by you. After reading your blog , i think this is the only way to minimise the cost of big and small farmers. U r absolutely right we shoudn’t avoid our indian breeds because these cows have more lactation period so we have to improve our indian breed for milk yielding. I m strongly agree with your point , thanks for ur suggesion. Keep it up for your project…..
Mehla ji,
I appreciate the fact that even after running your HF based Dairy very successfully you are taking the courage to guide people in right direction to keep Indigenous cows.
You agree with the fact that maintain hfs is costly and not sustainable in long run.
Advice from experienced dairy farmers such as you can play vital role in uplifting dairy sector.
Moreover one breed which is a high yielder but cannot just adapt to hot weather it won’t be possible for farmers to continue viable in the long run.
Therefore appreciate your support and best wishes to develop Indian Cows.
Many Thanks once again
Actuly indigenous breeds are easily adeptive with climate. I got good results in milk. Fat and snf percentage is also good in Sahiwal’s milk. Even milk prices of these breeds are above equilibrium. One more thing medical expenses are very low.faster Recovery time of diseases. Yes, I agree milk yield is not that much better. That’s the only reason farmers don’t use to own indigenous breeds.
We should aware the people too regarding milk quality of indigenous breeds.
Mohitji
Good to get your assessment of Indian cows.
Yes you realise good price for Indian cow milk as they have much higher fat content compared to HFs.
Secondly as you stated these cows are resistant to diseases and hence medical expenses are low is very right. This means cost of their mentenace is much low thereby reducing cost of milk production.
And if we focus our efforts on their breed improvement also these cows will prove very successful for dairy farmers.
Keep up your good efforts on rearing and developing Indigenous Breeds and yes keep awaring farmers too.
Best Wishes
I do agree with you Mr. Mohit Bajaj that indigenous breeds are easily adaptive with climate which is perhaps the most important milk production traits. For this reason Nikki has proposed that matching a dairy breed to the environment could be more sustainable than adjusting the environment to fit a particular breed. According to Food and Agriculture association, a UN body, says “Gir animals are considered hardy with low overall mortality and can tolerate stress conditions and resistance to various tropical diseases. This initiative for developing Gir breed for dairy production will certainly be beneficial for small Indian farmers
Dear Papa,
You are right in quoting as put by FAO that Gir is a hardy animal with low mortality and can tolerate heat stress better and definitely much more resistant to tropical diseases because this is our tropical breed and meant for this environment. However these benefits have been neglected by us .
This is the reason I want to just start working on these cows right away.
Thanks for your support and blessings.
Well surely HF breed is not the answer for the milk dairy in India.. As we have been forcing the issue way too much. All we need to see is… Is this gir breed easily available to local farmers in future?
Chandanji,
You are a Dairy Farmer yourself and therefore your opinion is also very important for all of us to know.
There must be some reason why you feel that HF breed is not an answer to Dairy Farming in India.
It would be great if you share why you feel so.
Gir Breed is not available in Uttar Pradesh. One has to go to Gujrat or rajasthan to purchse these cows.
But if major farmers start working on them in different pockets of UP these will soon be availble to start farmers also.
All we need is to take lead in this direction.
As I have gone through farmers experience I have come to an conclusion.. That we have to promote cross breeding animals which suits our environment and climatic conditions.. HF needs a lot of care and is very sensitive to diseases and sickness.. Which leads to loss in dairy farming as a day to day dairy farmer cannot afford a Pure HF cow as…..it requires a bit of a effort to maintain the health of these cows. So iam in a bit of a tangle as dairy farming requires both- milk production and health of the cattle. HF is a good cow for milk production but cannot handle a severe heat conditions which leads to health problems.
In order to run a dairy we need animals who fits the climatic conditions very well…and I see the solution is cross breeders, which suits both the conditions very well.
Thanks Nikki ji.
Great insight Nikki ji.. Good vision… Feeling very proud to see Indian youth doing great work in farming.. After reading this blog I would love to visit your farm n see all these cows n your dairy project… Well done… Keep up the good work..
Mayuri Ji ,
We will feel happy to have you all at our farm. Please do visit us when you are in India and we will show you our work in Dairy.
Many thanks for your encouraging words. Appreciation from people such as you ignites us to do more and better.
Best Regards
Nikki
Also It is great to see people taking deep interest in Agriculture and related sectors. It is essential for the development of the countrys most important sector.
Moreover the aim of my blog is lso to ignite the interest of Youth in Agriculture and to state that the aim of education is not to work in developed sectors but the aim should be to grow the undeveloped ones.
At the outset hearty congratulations for all the good work you have done so far. Despite education from a different discipline , despite of acquiring education from foreign country you have chosen Dairying.Great. You already know a lot and done a lot. I would like to know what is the wet average of the Gir cows at your farm? the quantum of feed , the ingredients of feed , fed to them ,what what you have actually done in terms of housing management,(type of housing), milking management , health management ,management practices followed ? etc .Then I will study what is lacking (if any) & then I will send my comments.Because there are hundreds of major & minor factors involved in Dairying which contribute to milk productivity .
Dr Rokde ji,
First of all many thanks for taking so deep interest in my blog and appreciate that Scientists from ICAR are equally participating in the discussions on Indian Breed. It is very motivating.
At present We have only exotic cows- HF and Jersey as mentioned in the blog however I would be purchasing Gir now.
Yes I do agree there are lot of factors that decides productivity of animals. I am taking wet average of 18 litres from our Exotic Cows in Winters and during summers it is around15 litres.
We give our cows fresh green fodder ad libitum- Rye Grass , Sugargraze , Oats during Winters. In summers we provide them with Maize Silage, Sorghum, Nutrifeed Bajra.
We have formulated feed as per the requirements of cows. We have Calf starter, Heifer grower, Milking Cows feed seperate and alongwith it we do take care to supplement it with essentila minerals, vitamins and toxinbinder.
As you can watch in my Video made at our own Dairy Unit, our cows are kept in free stall meaning they are not tied and are free to move. Fresh water is available throughout the day.
We have segregated cows as per their Milk yields so that they get nutrition as per their requirements, Calves and heifers are also kept in different partitions and are fed as per their need.
We have taken all care to keep cows comfortable, we give them energy rich and complete diet.
Please watch my video to get more idea of housing arrangements made for cows.
Great to read this Nikki. Am happy you are moving towards promotion of the desi cow as sustainable and healthy choice for farmers.
Unfortunately the govt hadn’t understood ground realities and hence even the schemes launched for small farmers specifies and directs them to keep HFS and Jerseys which is totally illogical. Hope you’ll be able to enlighten them too.
We also need to manage these dairies humanely and in an integrated fashion so it supports organic dung based farming while using the bulls in the field and for natural reproduction. I’m sure you’ll be able to show sustainability through good management and an approach that pays importance to dung and urine based products.
Look forward to this new venture. All the best!
Shagun,
Thanks for your concern towards Dairy Farming in India. Well we can to begin with develop and promote Indian breeds and in next stage work on improving their genetic potential by breeding them with semen of best bulls.
Shagun Dairy farmers in India are very sensitive to Cows and these cows are managed humanely. So do not worry about that.
Dung is used as a manure in farms or used in Biogas plants to generate electricity.
Incredible venture Nikki,Great to see the ignited spark in you to promote dairy farming without much support by policy makers. Your vision and mission to make dairy farming a happy and healthy venture for all farmers in India is a remarkable endeavour.Wishing you success………….
Peeya Ma’am,
It is great to get blessings from Teachers. Thankyou so much for always encouraging my work in Dairy.
Good Job Nikki! I am confident that your hard work in the development and recognition of our indigenous cattle species will have a positive impact on both farmers and small dairies and our economy in the long run. All the best.
Rahul Bhai,
As you have very correctly stated the main motivation behind my desire to develop Indigenous breeds is to have major positive impact on farmers small and big and our economy in the long run.
I am very sure I will be able to do a lot , however with support from Institutes and Government we will be able to much more and much better.
Thankyou for the wishes.
Great insight and how simply you have put it together. Brilliant.
I’m extremely happy and equally proud of your this journey. Way to go Nikki & all the B E S T.!!
Anil Jiju ,
Thankyou so much for always motivating us for our work.
Encouragement and your blessing inspire us to do more and better.
Regards
Nikki
Thank you mam !
It is very helpful good information for Indian farmers…..
Really, It is Great Job..
Arun,
Thanks for your wishes. Yes many farmers have got some idea on why working on own breeds can be beneficial. So the thought process has begun and many in my Dairy group on Whats App are taking huge interest towards the idea.
Dear Nikki,
Thank you for taking initiative to develop pure breed of Gir cows at your farm. Despite their distinct and superior traits our domestic cattle breed has been ignored by Indian dairy industries and animal scientists. We are made to believe that Indian cows are unproductive,they give less milk and useless.
It is the Brazil who has acknowledged superior traits of these Indian cattle breeds and developed their production potential. Now you have a great opportunity to preserve one of the best dairy breed in the world. I hope that proposed pilot scheme succeeds and you end up developing pure breed Gir cows. Please, go ahead with this project. Best wishes and good luck !
Premlata (mother)
Mummy,
Great to see your comment and appreciate you did some study on Indian breeds toobefore writing your insightful comment.
Yes Farmers are made to believe that these cows (Indigenous) are good for nothing and hence we see there is sharp decline of our breeds.
Even now any discussion on Indian Gir breed is laughed at by farmers and they are just not aware of their capabilities.
I hope with everyones blessings I will be able to change the scenario and make them believe in our climate resilient superior catlle.
Many thanks once again for your blessings.
Best Regards,
Nikki
Nikki !!! I wish u a very gud luck for ur current project and hope u will boost up the dairy to a high by applying innovative ideas in dairy farming sector.same time u should have to try for providing employment for others….
Imranji,
Thankyou for your best wishes. Yes by working hard I will definitely find innovative solutions in Dairying.
With expansion of Dairy employment will be generated. At present we have employed 6 people but as we will expand employment will be generated.
In order to generate more employment we will have to make Dairy look lucrative to all farmers so that they adopt it. For this I am taking all steps focusing on Indian breeds so that all can pursue it and there is overall much positive impact on economy.
Great work Nikki..our blessings are always with you for this endeavour.
Mama ji n Mamiji
Mamiji and Mamaji,
Thankyou for your blessings. It means a lot to us.
Best Regards
A very good effort..all the best. Country is in need of such efforts.
Nilay
Thankyou for your wishes.
Niki when it comes to Indian breeds all are talking of gir and neglecting all other breeds.
Ketanji ,
Let us atleast begin somewhere and I will soon be buying Sahiwals Cow and Murrah Buffaloes too.
I chose Gir because I had Brazil example to demonstrate its superior milk yielding and disease resistance qualities in tropical country so that atleast farmers start taking interest in own breeds.
Thankyou for your concern.
Nikki
Dear Nikki,
While focussing more on Gir breed cattle, kindly try adding few Kankrej animals to your herd in near future as suggested by Dr. Dubey, LRS farm in the college of veterinary science & animal husbandry, (Junagarh Agricultural University), Junagarh (Gujarat). Kankrej animals can also be a very good option, as they are also very resilient and hardy.
Well Done Sister………. It’s a return By a daughter to her Farmers Community……….
Thanks a lot Vinod Bhaisahab for your kind words.
Hi nikki ji
Good to hear you about indian cows, that will be a more profitable business if marketed properly, dairy business is non profitable only when we compare our premium product with other available cooperative products, wish you best of luck for gir business,
I request you to please visit our farm some time to see HF cross farming and also good murrah farming
Regards
Dr Mukesh
Mukeshji
Happy to get your comment. Marketing is definitely one part – one has to market milk whether it is hf or Indigenous but the main component here is promoting breeds which can prove to farmers much more easier to maintain and hence less costly for the reasons stated in my blog.
Please let me know how Murrahs perform and what is the wet average of Murrah Buffaloes.
I will definitely like to visit your dairy farm.
Thanks for your wishes.
Gr8 effort… All the very Best…
Thanks a lot Amitosh ji…
An excellent effort in recognizing and promoting Indian cattle. I appreciate your motivation in helping out the poor farmers in alleviating their concern with High cost crossbreeds. Don’t understand that why government has repeatedly suffered from myopic vision in recognizing this and providing traction to indigenous ways of rearing cattle and increasing dairy productivity. I wish you all the very best in your endeavour.
First of all I’d like to congratulate for writing such a informative blog on such a new concept. Though dairy farming is a very old practice but with scientific methods India is lacking. Hats off to you and your entire family for supporting you on such a noble cause.7 times I read your blog and came to know about the various issues like you haven’t mention about the nutrition part in their milk. Also their adaptability in different environment in India. Plz explain if possible…
Neeraj,
It is true that Indian Dairy has to grow in term of scientific methods too. There is a need to have good knowledge of Nutrition, Health issues but many farmers are developing interest and aquiring knowledge on these issues eagerly.
Thanks for going through my blog in detail. Well nutrition of milk of our cows is superior as it has got Higher SNF and also they need lesser medicines as they fall sick less so health of milk again is superior.
Gir can adapt in tropical climate of India countrywise. Indian cattle can adapt well all over India.
Hello nikki ji, visting your farm and dairy was a wonderful experience, you are doing a great job . All the best for the future.
Hello nikki ji,visiting your farm and dairy was a wonderful experience. You are doing a great job .All the best for the future.
Amit Jha ji,
Thanks for liking our work in Dairy.
Keep visiting us , we will be happy to have you at our Dairy Unit.
Best
Bhabhiji,
Yes our good milk breeds are being neglected in India. We should promote them.
Vivek
Bhaiya,
I am sure awareness among our farmers regarding Indigenous breeds will rise faster now.
Our Agriculture Minister and few State Governments are promoting them by giving incentives to farmers to rear them.
Great Work Nikki….I think I would be a very meaningful to subside the minds of forcing things/ ideas that lead to very irreversible losses. Inclusion of exotic flora or fauna severely damages the indigenous ecosystem of the area and leaves very worst impacts. Good Luck and I am sure of your wonderful success.
Hafiz ji,
You are very right in stating that inclusion of exotic flora/ fauna damages the ecosystem of the area and negatively impacts local species.
This has happened in case of dairy cattle in India.
Thanks a lot for writing all so well and for your best wishes.
Do visit our farm once you are in India. We will show you our work in Dairy.
Best Regrds
Nikki
Hey Nikki, this initiative of yours is not only interesting but also crucial for the farming/dairy industry in India. I feel if this is replicated & implemented across our country, both parties – the farmer & the consumer have a lot to gain & to lead a prosperous and healthy life. All the very best. May the force be with you !!
Hello Sanjeev ji,
By promoting Indigenous Breeds definitely both parties will benefit .
Farmers will be able to produce milk ar lower cost for reasons stated above in the blog and consumers will get healthier milk at lesser price.
Milk availability will also increase.
Please keep visiting us to see our progress in Dairy and spread awareness on Indigenous cows through your great Photography.
Best Regards
Nikki
Really a good insight into the sustainability model for the cows for India. Hope you get great success in this noble endeavour.
Sidhartji ,
Many thanks for your wishes. Do visit our Dairy.
Best Regards
Good to know these facts about Gir cows! Once these are made known to the wider public and marketed appropriately, the interest will definitely grow in indigenous breeds rather than imported ones.
Avani ji,
Thanks for going through the blog and taking interest in Indian Breed.
Yes efforts need to be made to promote these breeds. Few State Governments are promoting these breeds among farmers.
As a dairy farmer we will also do our bit to bring confidence of farmers in the Gir breed by working on them.
Many thanks for your best wishes.
Really its very interesting blog .I always appreciate urs work .last time agroforestry model also success story from urs side .best of luck for future projects.Hope we will also expect new things from urs side.
Girish ji,
Thanks a lot for appreciating our work. Oh yes I try my best in whatever little I can do in agriculture to make it attractive to farmers and our youth.
Your wishes will definitely keep me going and I hope I meet expectations so many people have of me.
Good insightfull blog .best of luck for yours future work .
Good work in dairy indestery keep it up billion madam
We wish you
Govind ji,
Thankyou so much Govindji.
Good work in Dairy indestry as well as good Milk & good Breed.
`Baldevji ,
Thankyou so much for your appreciation.
Please continue this good work. All the best !!
Vaibhavji,
Many thanks for your motivation. I shall put in all efforts to do the best work in Dairy.
Dear Nikki ji
First of all, I appreciate your such interesting & innovative blog.
Really appreciable! Superb! Keep it up!
Alok ji,
Thanks a lot for taking interest in the blog and appreciating it.
Good work in dairy industry.best of luck for
Future.
Nitin ji,
Thankyou for your best wishes. Will continue to work hard in the sector..
Best Regards
It is very helpful information for Indian farmers.
Wish u all the best.
Shyam ji,
Thankyou for the complement on blog. Yes the purpose of the blog was to give farmers a perspective on Indian breeds too so that though process on developing own breeds atleat starts among them.
India has become largest producer and consumer of milk in world. Further, there are burgeoning demand for domestic consumption and for exports as well. So dairy is among few sectors of Inadian economic activities where now strategies and operational efficiency needed for a sustainable high growth in milk production. I find this blog very timely and useful to know how to refocus on some of INDIAN indigenous breeds for economical gains and for increasing the production. I would like to visit this dairy and take learnings from your practices. Thank you for spreading this through blogs so that other people could be also benefited from it. Regards, Ajay
Ajay ji,
Yes India is the largest producer of milk in the world but per capita cattle milk production in India is not even in top ten countries. There is a lot to work on development of Indian breeds for the overall improvement in Dairy Scenario.
As stated by you the demand for milk is also increasing and India being the second most populated country of the world and dependent on milk for its protein requirement to there is a need to develop ways and means to improve the efficiency and productivity of Dairy Sector and one way according to me is working aggressively on improvement of Indigenous breeds such as Gir who has demonstrated its ability in Brazil.
Dear Nikki Ji,
Excellent plan for development of indian cattle and you have plan to grow in phases and try to get elite germplasm of Gir cattle from breeding tract. Keep it up your efforts continue in long run, certainly you will success in your mission.
best wishes
Dr Lathwalji,
I appreciate your efforts too to initiate development of Gir at National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal.
Your efforts are commendable and I am sure this will be very beneficial for our farmers in the long run.
I am sure NDRI will also be provinding Gir Semen in some time.
Thanks a lot for your best wishes and I will keep taking guidance from you Sir.
Best Regards
Nikki
Nikki Madam,
I have one interesting experience to share,related to desi cow. We are having one desi cow, which used to give 5-6 ltr milk. Since we started our new dairy around 3 yr back and we changed her nutrition and care similar to what we do for HF cows. Since than it is giving 10+ milk and calves every year. Yesterday she gave female calve( one of best Sahiwal bull of BAIF) in her 11th lactation.Moreover we have not spent a single penny on her medicine . No medicine No injection except dewormer and vaccine.
Pawanji,
Thanks for sharing this wonderful insight of yours regarding Indian Cattle.
Yes Indian cows clearly stay healthier as they adapt very well to Indian climate and are resistant to local diseases and hence the cost of maintaining them is very low.
They are capable of on average 8 lactations which again is much higher compared to exotic ones.
As you have mentioned that with good care and good nutrition your cow increased milk production I am sure that if these cows are bred with good bulls we will also succeed in having high Indian milk yielders .
Nikki Madam
One more humble suggestion,its good that we are working to improve our own breed but simultaneously we should work to market milk and milk products made from desi cows as well. Because farmers can well rear these desi cows but they can not market their desi cow milk, which crucial for sustainability desi cow dairy farming. Here responsibility lies on us young dairy entrepreneurs to fill the gap. The organic dairy farming can be one of the way to do it, because i think only our desi cows will be able to meet/suits the guidelines of organic dairy farming.
regards
Pawan Dixit
Pawanji ,
I appreciate your concern on marketing difficulty faced by dairy farmers. This gap surely needs to be filled too but initially atleast we can make sure that work gets started in direction which takes care of costs getting minimised.
Well we all need to sit , assess our work in dairy and come together to work in a direction which can prove best for our dairy farmers, consumers and future generations.
Great initiative and wish you all the best. “Sustainable” is the key word here and also recognizing that such a native breed can also be catapulted into the global recognition for the best breeds that are available for dairy farming. The benefit to farmers to reduce capital expenditure towards maintaining a suitable environment will indeed reduce strain on finances as well are contribute towards reduced power consumption. All the best!
Yes as rightly pointed by you Sustainable is the highlight of the blog. We as responsible citizens of the world need to direct our efforts in way which does not become a burden for globe or for future generations.
Developing Native Breeds which are climate resilient is one example in Dairy Farming.
As pointed by you Indian cattle breed improvement will reduce expenditure of farmers as well as optimise the use of energy and other resources.
thanks a lot for your good wishes and Do visit our Dairy Farm so that we can converse more on the topic.
Best Regards
Nikki
Hi Ms. Nikki,
I have gone through your blog and it’s nice to know about your project. If Brazil can devlope Our Gir Breed then we can also devlope breed. Now day people in Dairy Farm business choose HF Cows instead our desi cow bcoz of milk yeild only. We are totally in the wrong way. One day we will surely loose our pure local breeds. There are so many indigenous breeds in different domains of asia which are adaptive to the changing climate ! Best of luck….
Vijay ji,
Great to read your positive comment on our Indian breeds.
As rightly pointed by you people chose a cow which is a high yielder and since the only breed that has been worked upon in India is HF so this is only breed everyone wants despite the fact that there are other issues with it.
However our breed are good but because no work has ever been done on their breed improvement they have not performed to their potential but it does not mean that they are not capable. It only means that now the time has come that we start working on them and these efforts will surely prove great for all of us.
Nikki
This is great and perhaps the need of the hour considering our depleting resources / breeds. Important that we preserve and develop what is part of our national heritage.
Good work & let the effort continue.
Regards
Luv Pilania
Luv Bhaii,
Very well written and very true alongwith sustainabiity it is equally important that we preserve our own breeds too.
As our breeds are sharply decining it is important that we take steps in time to address this.
It’s important that we take care of our resources / breeds and develop them for our future generations.
This is one such step and commendable in the same regards.
Good work & needs to be continued.
Regards
Luv Pilania
Bhai ,
Thanks a lot for your blessings and best wishes.
I will put in my efforts to the best in this direction .
Best Regards
Great work nikki, really a good work into the sustainability model for the cows for India and by doing such great work in this field you are educating our farmers which is necessary for the growth of our country .My best wishes are with you…..All The Best…keep going on
Regards
Shalini Malik
Shaliniji,
It gives me immense happiness to keep myself involved for the betterment of farmers in India. Being involved in dairy for last five years it is my desire to do the best in this sector which proves to be beneficial for dairy farmers.
Though I am learning but whatever my experience is I always try to share with farmers because that is what gives me most peace and utmost happiness.
Thanks once again Shaliniji for your best wishes and placing trust in my work.
Best Regards
Nikki
Dear Nikki, I have been following the work you have been doing and must say each time I read your blog it stimulates a lot of thoughts. well done on your efforts and keep it going. regards Mandeep SIngh
P.S. the video was very authentic 🙂
Mandeep ji,
Thankyou so much for appreciating my work and for such a good complement on my write ups.
As of now I have written several blogs to share my experiences in Agriculture- Agroforestry and Dairy.
Every time I write a blog it is either to change the society perception towards agriculture to positive or to address on issues that need attention.
Also interaction with different people on blog keeps me going and sharpens my knowledge further.
Very true Nikky jI you have mention the real problems which dairy farmers face with high milking cows in our climatic condition .. my observation is that repeate Breading problem is very common in HF cows which make economics of dairy very difficult and same time the rates of milk are not suporting to farmers which leave limited resources in hand of farmer for spending for cattle …..shifting to our Indian cows provide 100 % original milk of desi cow which can be marketed as 100% pure desi milk in premium and same time the cost of medicians are low Vs HF. we need to improve the genetics of Desi cattle as they have done in Brazil ………..
Lokeshji,
Great to get insights from people such as you who work day and night with Dairy Farmers. Your company Kemin serves Dairy Farmers by providing nutrition to Cattle.
Your insights are valuable as you have visited majority of dairy farms in India and therefore in a position to Judge the scenario better.
I completely agree with you that Hf based Dairies are not able to earn much and infact even after so much spending on nutrition, cow comfort, medicines,infrastructure they are struggling to get stability at work.
It is very clear sooner or later country will have to look towards Indigenous breeds for the development of the sector.
Thanks for the insights
Nikki
Dear nikki ji,
It is really interesting blog. your plan is excellent for development of rural india.
wish you all the best
Harbir ji,
Thankyou very much for the complement and your best wishes.
As farmers will grow rural India the real India will grow….
Harbirji do visit our Dairy soon.
Best Regards
Nikki
I have studied the lives of great men and women, and I found they who got to the top were those who did the job they had in hand with everything they had of energy, enthusiasm and hard work.
Good effort……… Yes,we can….
Best wishes…..
Sudhirji,
Many many thanks for a very inspiring and motivating comment.
On reading your comment Sudhirji I got reminded of the time when I was newly married and totally unaware of Dairy and Agriculture.
But from day One after marriage I started exploring very sincerely Dairy and Farming and my passion made me learn so much in short span and I hope to work the best I can in Agriculture so that I can make maximum farmers happy with their efforts.
Great work Nikki…Your keen attention and dedicated efforts has brought attention to this topic. I appreciate your due diligence.
Good luck 😊
Many thanks Anupam for the comment and your best wishes.
Really appretiate the job… this type of affair really needed in our country…you are doing really great work. Keep it up.
Ashuji ,
Thankyou for the appreciation and your best wishes.
Good observations and Analysis on Breed Nikki ji…. good job.
All the best
Rajeev ji,
Thankyou for the comment and appreciating my work.
Great initiative. Helping our farmers will go a long way in getting them out of the problems they face today. I love the passion with which you are propagating the right things and being an agent of change.
It is true that every time I write a blog it represents our Agriculture and farmers.
Writing blogs, spreading message across through social media channels such as these makes me feel that somebody is all the time listening to what we are saying.
I am trying my best to do as much as I can to share the concerns being faced by farmers and I am sure this will definitely benefit the farmer community.
Very good work
Thankyou so much .
Good job mam
Thanks a lot Sanjeevji.
Hello Nikki Your views reflect the future of dairy farmimg in india. This initiative will be a boom and guiding path way for the small and marginal farmers . Wish you all the very best
Amit Dhawan Cargill
Good initiative, we have to develop our Zebu Breeds such like Gir who gives more Milk like HF Breed and have good Immunity and good Milk Fat and SNF , its our pride .
Thankyou for the complement. Yes there is a need to work on development of Zebu breeds as they have tremendous potential in terms of milk yield, disease resistance and heat tolerance.
Hello Nikki,
I am very pleased to know your review. It has been a very profound thought regarding next generation of dairy farming in our country.
Moreover, I feel that this project will re- establish the Indian milch breeds in our country which has been dilluted due to cross breeding.
For the very same i would like to wish u GOOD LUCK…
Regards,
Dr. Anjali Tripathi
V.O. ( U.P. Gov)
Friend to Dr. Shivam Dubey
Anjali ji ,
Great to see your comment. My own experience of Dairy , several visits to Dairy farms across India and observation of Indian Cattle has made me write the blog on need to working on Climate Resilient Cattle which I strongly feel needs to be worked upon for making Dairying success and sustainable.
I feel especially good when I get positive comments from Government side too.
Also while reading articles on Dairy I got to know that due to random cross breeding and no strict policy on cattle breeding through Artificial Insemination the purity of our breeds has been diluted and hence very few pure cattle left.
In order to expand the numbers of our pure Cattle we need to start working on them as soon as possible. And there is an urgent need to Government to take initiatives too to ensure that they are retained.
Thanks for the concern njaliji.
Best Regards
Nikki ji you have done good work. The future of indian dairy will be our indigenous cattle. crossbred animals are more prone to different type of disease eg. Mastitis, Milk fever, Ketosis, Downer cow syndrome, tick infestation, tick borne disease, RFM, Metritis etc. Another problem is A1 & A2 Milk of HF Cows, which produces many disease conditions in humans. Overall the indigenous cows is low cost & efficient converter of fodder to milk, that’s why the future of Dairy will be our indigenous cattle & Buffaloes.
all the best Nikki Ji…
regards
Rakesh
Rakeshji,
Thankyou for your insights on the exotic and Indigenous Cattle. As rightly said by you the future has to be Indian Cattle and Buffaloes only for their several qualities as mentioned in the blog above.
The exotic cows easily come in stress as they cannot tolerate hot weather of India as a result of which their immunity goes down and hence are prone to several problems and disease which becomes costly to treat especially by a small farmer.
Milk production also falls significantly by exotic ones if proper cooling arrangement are not made.
Also as touched by you the case of A2 milk of our cows this milk is considered perfect for us. On the other hand researches do claim that HFs have A1 type protein in milk which has negative effects on one’s health.
Though I myself is not completely sure of the debate but this is what present researches are saying.
Since our cattle can tolerate hot and humid weather they do not come in stress and remain healthy throughout the year. Stree Free cows are bound to be efficient and healthy milk producers.
Best Regards
The speaker in this video talks about developing the breeds that perform well in the tropical country like India .but it has own limitations like our indigenous breeds are not persistent in lactation and also their per day milk yield is less. So the breeding policy makers stress upon the use of highly productive exotic breed semen like that of HF(Holistein Freisian) so that we can produce crossbred animals that perform well under these conditions.Cross bred cattle can produce upto 30 litres milk per day and are persistent in lactation.Also there is the policy of conserving the germplasm of indigenous breeds. There are ICAR projects running throughout the country that pay whole attention towards conserving the indigenious breeds.The problem with our genetic stock (indigenous breeds) is that neither they perform well nor their genetic potential is so high that they can 20 litres of milk per day. Rest the whole thing rotates about management. If your management is not good, you will never get positive results whether you have is indigenous, crossbred or exotic animals. In India the farmers are not ready to feed their animals with good quality nutrition.They want good returns at low cost with out giving emphasis on concequences of feeding unbalanced diet to their livestock.The modification of environment is prerequisite, if you dont modify environment, many problems will knock the door of your farm like decreased milk production, impaired reproduction. because during the stressful conditions like heat stress animal takes less feed intake that will inturn lower the production. The productive animal directs it energy to maintain body temperature rather that production during cold season. So better management(housing management, feed management etc) is must.So it is better that if you want to increase the economic returns of your dairy farm, the best choice is maintain the crossbred animals with proper management..
Dr Ashiq ,
Thankyou for bringing out in detail the overall factors needed for a successful Dairy. It is true management plays a very important role in success of any sector and also i am not against maintaining appropriate cross breeds.
All I am concerned is about the lack of work done on Indian Milch breeds. Dr Ashiq why is it that you feel that our cows do not have potential to give good milk yields when pure Gir in Brazil has proved itself of superior milk yielding qualities. Gir HF cross is performing amazinly well too but in India we actually have no policy on how the right cross balance can be maintained.
I do agree that cows need to be given comfortable housing , good nutrition and any high yielder will need bit extra care. But I am still sure that a well bred and developed Indian cattle will still be much easier to maintain then exotic ones as they are tolerant to heat and respond well to good feed and nutrition. Moreover resistance to diseases is another very important characterstics of Indian cattle which brings down farmers per litre cost of production.
Also comparison of Indian breeds and exotic ones is not valid here in India as no work has been done on Indian cattle development. So comparing with HFs who have beed worked on constantly for last so many years will not take us anywhere.
Let us first work on breed development of our cows and then reach to any conclusion.
Dr. Ashiq/ Dr.Shivam
Your concerns about housing and feed management are genuine and should be addressed through training and awareness of Dairy farmers. It is also no secret that ICAR never did serious research work on Indian Milch breeds. It is only after new BJP Governmenas come to power , the conservation and improvement of indigenous breeds has started under ‘Gokul Mission’. This has forced council to shift it’s focus on improving and promoting indigenous cattle breeds.
While inaugrating Avishkar, Maharashtra’s interuniversity research festival in Nagpur in January, 2015 , K M L Pathak, deputy director general of ICAR , told the following to our leading national news paper “Times Of India”:-
I. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has plans to promote only the indigenous breeds of cattle across the country discarding its earlier policy of cross breeding to increase milk yield.
II. Cross breeding is not the answer for increasing milk production.
III. We have very good Indian breeds like Sahiwal, Gir, Tharparkar, Rathi etc. They are economical breeds as well. It It is wise to inseminate these cows with good varieties of indigenous bulls whose progeny has been tested to improve them.
IV. ICAR’s second priority is to develop a model for tackling the effect of climate change on livestock
V. We need to understand how to mitigate the changes caused in animals in terms of disease pattern, their physiology and their productivity. Some of our own breeds are very sturdy to certain diseases. This can be used to identify these genes and work accordingly towards ways of transferring them in ones that need improvement
VI. Council was also in the process of developing a method of reaching the information on disease prediction and other advisory to farmers during various seasons and particular time of the year through SMS.
I would recommend that all progressive Dairy farmers like Nikki Pilania who wish to promote the indigenous breeds of cattle, should maintain collaborative and coordinative relation ship with reputed Government research institutes like ICAR, Vets and scientists. Your efforts combined with the expertise from Indian Council of Agricultural Research can provide important benefits.
Kind regards,
Brijpal Singh Pilania
Great to get so important insights from you on Policy initiatives as taken by the Government and Policy making institutes such as Indian Council of Agriculture Reserach.
All the points stated above by ICAR in 2015 are very correct and this is what I have been covering in my blog that ultimtely we will have to come to our own breeds to make Dairy cost effective, efficient and sustainable.
Cross breeding and dependence on HFs can not be the solution to Dairy as it will just be costly to keep these cows not only proving to be unviable for Dairy farmers, costly for consumers but also a burden on our economy making it to be unsustainable in the long run.
Time has come to work towards our National Mission of adopting Climate Resilient Agriculture practices.
Very nice effort, you are always inspiring lady in agriculture 🙂
Dineshji ,
Thankyou for appreciating the efforts. Motivation from people from diiferent corners of the world and from different sectors keeps us going.
Also I am happy to see great work done by youth in Agriculture and I am very confident that youth will with its intelligence, know how take things in right and sustainable direction.
Here I would also like to mention my experience on discussions with Dairy Group of Forty people on What’s App Group for you all to consider.
I shared my blog and discussed on Indian Cattle but majority of the farmers though themselves struggling with HFs were just against the idea of promoting Indian Breeds.
The scenario is such in India that even the talk of Indian cattle is looked down upon.
Dairy Sector in India is struggling, farmers are not able to save much because to them commercial dairy means keeping hfs and when they keep them they realise it is so complex to manage these animals.
Even after that failing to understand the simple idea that work in direction to improve genetic potential of own cows can prove to be fruitful in every way surprises me and scares me.
But on positive note few very educated youth also into Dairy Farming quickly got my point and supported the idea of breed improvement of own cows.
Here I would also take the opportunity to request Veterinarians , Policy Makers to atleast support the work on breed improvement of Indian Cattle and for a moment stop comparing the neglected Indian breeds with the HFs as this would take us nowhere.
Even if you compare the two breeds – make comparison on the basis of number of lactations, disease resistance, milk quality, health parameters etc. Just comparing the milk yield per day is a very myopic way.
Consider the entire picture and I am sure you will not discourage the Indigenous cattle breed improvement.
Dear Nikki,
Pleas promote indigenous breed Gir cows and carry out some scientific study(with the help of ICAR or other competent agencies ) to establish if the nutritional value of milk of Indian cows is the highest as claimed by many our Hindu religious leaders. There are reports that milk of Indian cows contain an amino acid PROLINE which is strongly bonded to another amino acid INSOLEUCINE. Such milk, called as A2 milk has the capability to fight against diseases and disorders of human body like obesity, joint pain, asthma, mental problems etc.
Your comments suggestions will be highly appreciated.
Kind regards,
Premlata
Yes it is very true that milk of Indian cows is nutritious compared to Exotic ones and studies say that milk of Indigenous cows has A2 type milk which is a preferred milk over A1 as A1 type protein has been linked to various diseases in body.
There is ingoing debate and researches bring carried over A1/ A2 .
But for several reasons mentioned in the blog there is a strong case to support Indian cows.
Here I would like to support Nikki on rare initiative she has taken on Indian breed development and awaring people on this. Being a very good Dairy Entrepreneur herself and performing very well on Dairy Front it needs a heart and soul to think about a larger picture for the betterment of all.
Such efforts should be encouraged. Thankyou everyone for being so supportive to her work.
Above comment posted by me Gaurav… Nikki’s husband through her mail.
It is very right that all Indian Dairy farmers having exotic cows such as HF are struggling despite taking best care of them in terms of nutrition, comfortable sheds etc.
This is because these cows are not meant for Indian environment.
Saurabh Bhai,
Working on promoting climate resilient agriculture practices or Livestock has become extremely important.
Without adopting practices that match with local natural environment any work becomes too costly and in effing in the long run.
Same has happened in Indian Dairy where we were supposed to develop our mulch breeds years back but we introduced exotic Semen and cows and totally neglected the Indian Cattle.
This is now becoming troublesome for Indian Dairy farmers who are actually facing huge challenges in maintaining exotic blood.
So if we take steps now at least future can be secured.
Dear Nikki, it was eye opener to have such an amazing information about our own breed of cow namely Gir. Your insight into DAIRY farming is praise worthy. I personally feel that your efforts in this field shall be viewed as a land mark in the time to come.
All the best for your endeavor.. May GOD bless you always.
CA SANJAY AGARWAL,
PILIBHIT, UP, INDIA.
Sanjay ji,
It is great to see that blog on Dairy has been read with deep interest by people from different backgrounds.
Yes through blog lot many people have got to know about our precious mulch breed Gir and I am very happy that people are getting aware about it.
I will continue my efforts to promote the great mulch breeds we have in India but it would be great of all the readers also discuss the topic with others so that information gets disseminated.
Great Blog, all the best
Thanks a lot for the complement.
I appreciate your work. As I am professor of Ayurveda, I know the value of your devotion and work. I am strong supporter of such types of works. I have visited many goshala, specially want to mention about Arogyadham (Chitrakoot),have so many Indian species. I will be very happy, if I can do anything for promotion of this Nobel cause.
Atul ji ,
Thankyou for the comment and I am happy that few people are strong supporters of the promotion of Desi Cows. This is probably the reason our breeds still exist despite total neglect by policy makers.
Please continue to preserve Indigenous breeds and do share your contact details .
Wow. Definitely a great initiative to promote youth to youth empowerment by networking and information sharing through online and offline meetings and events. A collective effort that is of the youth, for the youth, and by the youth!.
Many thanks Dr Abida Anwarji… Yes Social Media is gives us a great platform to share important work information. Here I would like to thanks and congratulate the Social Media Team and the Agriculture Organisations for working so well to create awareness and promote essential discussions among masses.
Great to know so much about the industry Nikki. Had no idea that the white nectar every mother forces her child to take, every day has so much to be known about. Keep going dear, you guys have a long way to go… !!
Naveen ,
Many thanks for always motivating us .
Yes it takes lot of effort to produce a healthy super food- Milk. It is lot of hard work but the pain here is when that hard work is not rewarded because of wrong base- which at present is dependence of Dairy Farmers on exotic milch breeds for Milk.
I hope to change this for better and I am sure that with blessings of so many people I will be able to make Dairy a happy venture for our farmers ..
congratulations…
Thankyou Rakeshji..
Great job Nikki
Quite informative and praiseworthy.I wish you all the best Nikki
Your work is quite informative and praiseworthy.I wish you all the best.
Your work is quite informative and praiseworthy.Keep it up.
Thanks a lot Olive Aunty…
Great Job Nikki … Congratulations
Great Job Nikki
Thanks a lot Rajbirji….
MsNikki, wonderful article…….since I am also in the same boat..can understand each and every word to the best….Anyway we are based in lucknow….having a cow herd of 100+ trying our best to make it a profitable one…….we have been partialy sucessful….do keep up the good work…..myself trying to balance between H.F n Sahiwal
Hello Patel ji
Sorry for late reply.
Since I will be working on Gir Project and will be in better position to come up with good analysis of performance of Gir in Dairy. Gir is a good milch breed but since it has been left very few in number in Gujarat the success in Gir will also come provided you ensure that you the best Genetics available with you.
You can call me on 09758514942 or mail me at chaudharyfarms@gmail.com to have detailed discussion on the matter.
Nikki this amazing! So proud of you, very interesting article, very informative, so innovative and a step in the right direction I think agriculture is the most important sector in any economy, I wish this could be implemented in my country, Chaudhary farms is lucky to have you!! thanks for this! Hopefully whenever I come to India will come visit the farm 🙂 Love to your family. Kisses
Hey Maria
I am really happy to see your comment . Thankyou so much for appreciating our work. I miss you a lot and waiting to see you soon at our farm.
Please find time to visit us in India.
Say my regards to your family too.
Come soon and we will have long discussions and great time together.
Best
Nikki
Hello All,
For those of you interested to work on Indigenous cows and learn more about them do attend the Dream Bull Show to be held on July 11 at Hyderabad.
To know more open the link below.
http://www.meraevents.com/event/the-dream-bull-show
Courageous initiative Nikki… not many would dare to go for this. Good Luck and wish you very best for the very cause.