Implement new ideas to woo dairy farmers: Milma Chairman

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 23 March 2023: The country’s dairy sector must implement novel methods to strengthen milk production and attract more entrepreneurs as well as investors, according to K.S. Mani, Milma Chairman.

Production cost must be curtailed amid efforts to improve the quality of milk, he said at the 49th Dairy Industry Conference and Exhibition 2023 at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

To achieve this dual target, authorities must ensure improved health of the cattle, while bringing down pollution and optimising the number of workers, Shri Mani pointed out in his presentation on ‘Animal Husbandry Innovations’ at the March 16-18 event.

The cattle should gain stronger immunity against diseases, while infertility issues must be lessened through better artificial insemination, the speaker noted at the conference organised by the Indian Dairy association in collaboration with its Gujarat chapter. “Cows must get special care during their initial stage of pregnancy,” he noted. “Attention needs to be given on the quality of the cattle-feed and the fertilisers that have gone into its production. We must accord importance to the medicines administered to the cattle, cleanliness of their sheds and scientific nature of breeding.”

Listing certain bovine diseases among cattle, Mani stressed the need to carry out effective measures to contain lumpy skin, brucellosis, theileriosis and mastitis. New diagnosis systems must be developed, the cattle needs to be equipped with stronger resistance against micro-organisms and provided better care against inflammation of the udder. The ethno-veterinary medicines brought out by Malabar Milma are helping in bringing down the use of antibiotics for cattle, he added.

The feed for cattle ought to be comprehensive yet economical, the Milma Chairman said. The pickled silage pasture grass can address not just shortage of cattle feed but provide it at an affordable price. The feed can include bypass fat, milk replacer and calf starter. Cows should be given sufficient intervals amid milking to guarantee better results in the measure and quality of milk. Also, farmers must be aware of the ideal gaps between pregnancies in cows, he added.

Low-cost cattle-sheds are a need of the hour, Mani said. Their cleanliness must be ensured by timely removal of cow-dung as well as guarding the cattle against worms. Further, there should be updated technologies to generate energy and value-added products from cow-dung. Mechanisation can help improve not just the quality of milk at a lower cost of production, but also the cleanliness in cattle-sheds, the Chairman added.