‘Make dairy farming commercial activity to achieve surplus production’

Dr Rajinder Pal has advocated that non-commercial dairy farming is a losing proposition for the farmers in Punjab. He has stated in his presentation most of these farmers are involved in the rice-wheat cultivation. As a result,they should instead devote the land used for dairy and allied activities to agricultural use,which will not only benefit them and also the entire state. And if their interest lies in dairy farming,they should go in for big dairy farms,which will be commercially viable,he suggests.

Dr Rajinder Pal,who was formerly an associate professor with Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Ludhiana,is now a Research Economist at the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries,Australia. He is working on collaborative projects of Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research in collaboration with CIMMYT,IRRI,Punjab government and PAU on adoption of new technologies in the state agriculture.

After studying the size of land holdings in Punjab,Dr Rajinder Pal has found that the average size of a farm in Punjab is 11 acres.

“Dairy is regarded as an essential component of a farm. On average,a farmer owns six animals – three milking animals (cows or buffalos),two young ones,and a bull or ox. The combined average yield of the three adult cattle is 15 kg of milk daily. On the other hand,in a commercial dairy farm in Punjab,each animal yields 10-12 kg of milk daily,” he reveals.

The farm economist says that the yield is very low in non-commercial dairies because of poor quality of animals,poor diet,poor management and poor medical care. “The total value of milk generated on these farms is Rs 90,000 a year. Some milk may be sold at the milk collection centres of Verka etc,and the rest used for domestic consumption. On the other hand,the total cost of keeping and rearing the animals,including the fixed,operational and variable costs is Rs 1,20,000. This way,a farmer incurs a net loss of Rs 30,000 a year,” he states.

Dr Rajinder Pal has highlighted that Punjab farmers involved in the rice-wheat cultivation grow fodder on half an acre to meet the requirements of these animals. “If they use this land for rice-wheat cultivation instead,they will earn an additional Rs 20,000 a year – enough to buy milk for their domestic requirement,and also cut out the additional dairy labour,” he has stated The benefit to the state,said Dr Rajinder Pal,is that farmers will be able to contribute more than half a million tonnes of rice or wheat every year to the state pool.

However,Dr GS Kalkat,Chairman of Punjab Farmers Commission,does not agree with Dr Rajinder Pal on this point. Dr Kalkat highlights that 60 per cent of farmers in Punjab meet their day-to-day expenses from selling milk at the state’s milk collection centres. “The farmers get their agricultural income only once in six months. With the sale of milk daily to Verka and other such agencies,they are able to meet their daily expenses,” he says. About 10 lakh farmers are involved in rice-wheat cultivation in Punjab – which comprises approximately 70 per cent of the farmers’ population in the state.