The annual flagship summit of the International Dairy Federation (IDF) – World Dairy Summit 2022 will be held in New Delhi, India first time since 1974 under the theme of “Livelihood and Nutrition” between September 12-15, 2022. Dairy industry stakeholders from over 40 countries would participate in the Summit. India’s success story of women empowerment will be shared with the world through World Dairy Summit. India’s dairy sector provides income opportunities to about eight crore farmers. Not only the farmers but even the landless farmers are linked with dairy. Milk is an important means of livelihood in our country. Milk and milk products play a very important role in providing nutrients to rural people.
Indian dairy Firms begin recycling wastes and tapping solar and wind energy. Amul Feed dairy in Gandhinagar uses dairy waste to generate natural gas, which is used in boilers and the canteen. This is worth ₹5-6 crore of annual savings in gas purchases. NDDB is setting up India’s first dung-based power plant with 4,000 MCM capacity to produce 19 tonnes of thermal energy (steam) and 2,000 kWh of electrical energy worth ₹1.3 lakh for the 2-LLPD dairy plant in Varanasi from biogas. The project, costing ₹23 crores, will be ready by March 2023 and will reduce carbon emissions of the dairy plant by half. Under the National Dairy Plan-I, it provided solar equipment to 67 district cooperative societies to use power in testing and warm water requirements. Also, NDDB has supported 16 dairy plants for solar energy. Mother Dairy has installed and commissioned various solar projects in plant premises across the country. Mother Dairy has also set up a Concentrated Solar Technology (CST) plant aimed to generate heat to cater to the hot water requirement in their processes. Hatsun Agro has reduced energy consumption by 16 percent over the last six years. Also, the company is using renewable energy to fulfill about 75 percent of its annual electricity requirements in Tamil Nadu. However, the current policies are creating hurdles for dairies to aggressively pursue their renewable ambitions. The Government has capped the installation of solar generation at 1 Mw irrespective of the size and scale of the industry. That cap should be relaxed. The cap should be based on the percentage of energy consumed by the industry.
Kerala Feeds Ltd. is collaborating with Agriculture Department, Veterinary University, and Dairy Development Department to implement the maize farming project. The project seeks to cultivate raw materials for cattle feed within the State as part of the government’s effort to help the dairy farmers by reducing the prices of cattle feed through different measures. Considering the impracticability of raising milk prices, the Kerala government is set to give dairy farmers subsidies for the entire 2022-23 financial year in coordination with allied departments. As Kerala continues to fetch farmers the highest price for milk vis-à-vis any other State in the country, any further increase in the market rates will risk the influx of economical dairy products. All the same, the government is aware that farmers’ income from the sale of milk is not on par with the cost of maintaining cattle. The Kerala government is also initiating a farmer-empowerment program by issuing health cards and tags for cattle in a bid to strengthen the dairy industry.
The Maharashtra government has formed a committee to discuss Fair and Remunerative Prices (FRP) for milk. Farmers’ organisations have been demanding FRP for milk on the lines of sugarcane. The government has no control over the price formula decided by the private and co-operative dairies. The selling price of milk comprises the milk procurement price paid to the farmers (including the cost of production) and the cost of processing and marketing. The Committee will speak to stakeholders including farmers and present the report to explain if FRP to milk is possible.
Country Delight has raised $108 million in a Series D funding round. Founded in 2013, Country Delight is a direct-to-consumer fresh food essential brand delivering dairy, fruits, and vegetables to the doorstep of consumers. It ensures fresh farm-to-home deliveries within 24-36 hours from sourcing, facilitated by a fully integrated supply chain model. In the last three years, Country Delight is said to have grown 10x in scale and has served over 15 lakh customers across India. Dvara E-Dairy Solutions Pvt Ltd, an agri-fintech company has raised $2 million in a Pre-Series A round of funding. Since its inception in 2019, Dvara E-Dairy is focussing on solving the small and marginal dairy farmers’ problem by building an ecosystem platform and deploying new-age technologies that enable access to suitable financial and cattle management services. Its Surabhi platform provides comprehensive financial and cattle management solutions to small and medium dairy farmers. It also enables financial services institutions and value chain companies to make informed decisions in relation to the dairy industry.