MUMBAI, APRIL 6:
Rabobank expects sourcing of milk from dairy farmers is going to be the key challenge for processors in the coming days. Milk processors are strengthening their ties with farmers and encouraging them to grow their farm size to 50-300 cattle from the current level of 30-50 cattle.
With the strong growth in branded milk and dairy products, direct milk sourcing will gradually replace the agent-based sourcing and this will help them secure consistent supply of superior quality raw milk, said Rabobank’s recent report on Emerging Dairy Farm Trends in India.
Though share of milk procured from small and marginal farmers will decline, this segment will still stay relevant as currently 75-80 per cent of milk is procured from these farmers.
Large-scale-dairy farming with over 1,000 cattle has proved difficult to establish due to factors such as land availability, paucity of professional labour, fodder availability, ban on import of cattle, it said. Shiva Mudgil, Senior Dairy Analyst, Rabobank’s Food and Agribusiness Research, said procurement from small and marginal dairy farmers would increasingly become a challenge for milk processors and the industry will see the emergence of farmer owned dairy farms with herd sizes ranging from 50-300 cattle.
Rabobank believes that this farming trend will be driven by existing farmers upgrading to medium scale and fresh investment from private equity investors who will help the farmers in getting modern services and technologies to manage dairy farms efficiently. – The Hindu BusinessLine
