The Hindu Business Line : Hatsun Agro project to encourage farmers to take up dairying

Salem, Nov. 16 “Time and labour saving is basically finance saving,” says Mr Shane Whittaker, Specialist – Dairy Herd Development, Hatsun Agro Product Ltd.

Mr Whittaker, a specialist from New Zealand – known for its dairy industry – has had extensive experience in dairy development, and oversees Hatsun Agro’s project to encourage farmers take up dairying as a mainstream investment. Traditionally, dairying has been a supplementary activity in farms.

Focus

Hatsun’s objective is to enhance milk yields and farmers’ income, which would improve the quality and quantity of milk it procures for marketing.

Hatsun, the largest private dairy in the country, buys over 15 lakh litres of milk daily from dairy farmers and processes it to sell as milk and milk products including ice creams. Its brands include Arokya and Komatha milk and Arun ice creams.

Remunerative

According to the Hatsun Agro’s Chairman and Managing Director, Mr R.G. Chandramogan, dairying is inherently remunerative when done in an organised way. The challenge is to convince the farmers take up dairying and find ways to ensure they are able to manage without manual labour, which is fast being weaned away by the manufacturing and service sectors.

All that it takes is simple mechanisation – machines to harvest and chop the fodder crop and to milk the cows for “time and labour saving”.

Hatsun has supported farmers set up over 50 dairy farms in Tamil Nadu. Eventually, it hopes to have thousands across the State.

Its model

A farmer owning over five acres land would be able to support 30-40 milch cows with the fodder grown on the land.

With proper irrigation, fodder output increases, cows get better nutrition and yield more milk – an average of over 15 litres a day.

This enables the dairy farmers make a profit of over Rs 25,000 a month with an investment of over Rs 10 lakh towards livestock, cowshed and machinery.

Hatsun Agro’s support is in the form of technical inputs such as animal selection, crop management, buy-back assurance for milk and facilitating bank finance.

More Stories on : Dairy & Dairy Products | Animals & Livestock | Outlook

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Acreage under wheat, mustard down

Rise in output

Inflation rate rises on costlier fuel, manufactured items

Buyer resistance hits spot rubber

AMR Agro diversifying into sugar

TN sets sugarcane price at Rs 1,034

Hatsun Agro project to encourage farmers to take up dairying

Profit booking hit soya oil futures

Pepper futures decline on bearish activities

Cardamom prices continue upward move

Global neem meet to focus on health aspects

Curious minds