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Empowerment | SRCC project helps rural women in Haryana start dairy business -Shreya Roy Chowdhury

SRCC project helps rural women in Haryana start dairy business -Shreya Roy Chowdhury

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published Published on Jul 15, 2015   modified Modified on Jul 15, 2015
-The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Manik Garg, second-year commerce student at Shri Ram College of Commerce, knows nearly as much about cattle and dairy-farming as he does about business. He knows, for instance, that there are three types of feed ("Green fodder, hay and high-nutrition feed"), that a high-yielding animal (delivering at least 15 litres of milk per day) costs Rs 60,000—70,000 and that some pedigreed bovines need air-conditioned rooms.

He, and his contemporary from economics, Divyat Rungta, are together heading a project that'll help rural women of Haryana set up and run their own dairy-product business. Project Sattva is the eleventh project to be launched by the SRCC chapter of international organization ENACTUS.

The project is being piloted at Amritpur Kalan and Taprana—villages near Karnal, Haryana, population 150-200 each. The ground-work is done and permission from the husbands secured - they can't be ignored in rural Haryana - and two self-help groups (SHG) for supplying and manufacturing, are in place in each village.

"The women are divided into "processor SHGs" and supplier SHGs or kisan sahyogis. The processor SHGs will manufacture milk products. The kisan sahyogis, seven in each village, will buy cattle and supply milk," explains Garg. The processor groups - they engage 11 from the two villages combined -- were organized by Arpana Services, already active in the area, and are already operational.

"But they've reached stagnation," says Garg, "We'll help them mechanize production so that quality becomes consistent." The groups already make paneer, khoya, ghee, butter and curd. Training will help them add to this list. Several rounds at the National Daily Research Institute have covered analyzing milk quality. "They should know which to sell directly and which to process," says Rungta. Also, they've been selling locally where most families already own cattle; the students will help them scale up. "We'll work on their technical skills, literacy and capacity-building. They need to learn how to price their products, cost of transportation, how to market and pitch to restaurants and hotels."

But it's with the kisan sahyogis that students have to "start from scratch." These women will purchase the cattle with micro-finance organized by Arpana Services and maintain them. "We'll buy the cows in August when the prices are low," says Garg. The budget is Rs 80,000-Rs 85,000 per animal - Arpana Services has arranged for loans. The upkeep of one animal per month will cost the family Rs 4,000—5,000 and these bills, at least initially, will be paid by the husband. Rungta expects the kisan sahyogis to break even in about 18 months.

The kisan sahyogis have been trained in rearing of such cattle. "Farmers buy high-yielding breeds but they don't deliver because they're not properly maintained. Some don't feed during dry seasons or don't inoculate," explains Garg. The basic cattle-rearing checklist is this: clean daily to prevent infections, vaccinate regularly, be careful with feeding and take care of them also during dry periods. Garg adds that they'll be also engaged in the cattle-feed business and manage veterinary camps. "They'll serve as the link between farmers and vets."

"We pick up a project after months - sometimes even a year - of research. For every idea we carry forward, many get rejected," says faculty advisor, Abhay Kumar. ENACTUS-SRCC once had about 30-40 members; now it has over 70 enabling it to run three projects simultaneously.
 

The Times of India, 14 July, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/SRCC-project-helps-rural-women-in-Haryana-start-dairy-business/articleshow/48061616.cms


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