Why The Akshayakalpa Agri-Experiment In Karnataka May Well Grow Into A Movement 

Indian smallholder farmers do not run agriculture as an enterprise. There is very little science that goes into the practice. Fertilizer is applied without understanding deficiencies in soil and the requirements of crops. The activity is underfunded. Working capital is borrowed at rates that may be justified by illegal trade in narcotics, not farming. Crops are sowed on the basis of prices that prevailed in the previous season not those that are likely to obtain in the next. The harvest is often sold when rates are at their lowest. There is no correlation between risk and reward. Often, the upside is capped, but not the losses.

Akshayakalpa’s dairy business in Tiptur taluk of Karnatak’s Tumakuru district is an attempt to bring the entrepreneurial culture to agriculture. Guddahatti Nanjunda Srinivas Reddy says it is envisaged as an enterprise of farmer-entrepreneurs. Reddy spent all his working life with Bharatiya Agro-Industries Foundation (BAIF), a Pune-based NGO engaged in rural development. He was vice-president of the organization when he quit in 2010. The principles he gleaned from that experience form the basis of his social enterprise.

Akshayakalpa’s aspiration is to help a farmer family earn a net income of Rs 1 lakh a month. It is a model that is currently applied to dairying, integrated with crops like maize, coconuts and pigeonpea (tur), but could be extended to other agricultural activities. “If tomorrow keeping donkeys can give them Rs 1 lakh a month, we will do that,’ Reddy says.

Reddy’s ideal dairy has 25 cows of which about 16 will be lactating at any time. It would require an investment of Rs 25 lakh. The payback period is 3.5 years, he says. There is no dependence on external inputs. Cows and calves are fed leaves, in-house grown grass, and the protein-rich algae azolla. To ensure a constant supply of green fodder, the dairies need to be located on five acres of land with access to water for protective irrigation in summer.

The dairies I visit in Tiptur are a picture of thoughtful efficiency. The steel-roofed sheds are airy and cemented floors which have mats for comfort. Cows and calves are stall-fed but not tethered. They are free to graze in an enclosure. Animal welfare is emphasised for its own sake and also because it positively influences milk yield.

Akshayakalpa supplies the design. It tells farmers where to source equipment from and provides services like vaccinations and maintenance free of charge, where consumables have to be paid. The staff of 40 then trains farmers with an initial engagement being quite high.

The animals are local breeds crossed with high-yielding Jerseys and Holstein Friesians for better adaptability. Dung is cleaned promptly and flushed into a digester, which in turn is connected to biogas balloons. The gas is then used as cooking fuel and powers electricity generators. The slurry from the digester is pumped into coconut gardens. It also fertilizes fodder and pigeonpea crops. Milking machines ensure hygiene. The milk is chilled immediately on site. It is dairying without drudgery. This is important because women, who do much of the cleaning, also have household chores to attend to. Less drudgery would also persuade youth to remain in villages.

Keeping milch cows used to be quite tough earlier. Now it is easy, says Sunil (no surname), who has studied till the 12th standard. We are at his dairy in Alur village about 150 km from Bengaluru. The dairy has 22 animals, of which 16 are cows, 12 of them milk-giving. Sunil has invested Rs 10 lakh, including the 10 cows which he owned earlier. A group of urban investors has put 25 lakh. The dairy produces about 65 litres of milk a day. Akshayakalpa pays between Rs 28 and 32 a litre depending on fat content. Sunil says he makes about Rs 60,000 a month. There are 130 such dairies in Tiptur associated with Akshayakalpa.

Shankareshwar Param of Vittalapura village finds his dairy quite a change from keeping cows in kotadis or dingy mud-walled sheds. This is dairying with design.

Reddy, a non-practicising veterinarian, disapproves of feed. He says it fattens the suppliers at the cost of farmers. Feed is not only a drain on cash, it is incompatible with the digestive system of ruminants, says Reddy. They have been programmed by evolution to process fibre; grain and de-oiled cakes produce acidosis, which damages animal health and impacts milk production. Oil cakes are also susceptible to fungal attacks. Aflatoxin produced as a result can harm humans, especially babies.

Akshayakalpa’s milk therefore commands a premium. It sells for Rs 60 a litre in Bengaluru. Mother Dairy in Delhi, for example, retails full cream milk for Rs 50 a litre. Reddy says anxious mothers are willing to pay more rather than take chances with their babies. He says demand outstrips supply. He also sells milk products like paneer and butter. Akshayakalpa ghee is priced at Rs 1,000 a litre, which is a stiff premium to brands that do not sport the organic tag and retail for around Rs 400 a litre.

Reddy encourages his buyers to drink milk without boiling, which, he says denatures protein and breaks its bond with calcium, inhibiting absorption by the body. There is no risk of contamination, as milk supplied by Akshayakalpa is hygienically extracted with machines and promptly chilled. Reddy believes “mother cow” puts “bio-protectors” or enzymes in milk to block harmful bacteria, making milk ‘truly amruta.’ But Reddy is no starry-eyed traditionalist. He does not, for instance, believe in the magical properties of desi cow urine.

(The National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal, Haryana, says boiling does degrade milk protein, but the loss in nutritional value is acceptable. Even if the udder is thoroughly cleaned, the cow can shed pathogens, so it advises pasteurization).

Another of Reddy’s quirks, if one can call it that, is his insistence on owners being hands-on. Animals can distinguish between owners and hired workers. Abuse and ill-treatment, more likely if the hands are hired, will tell on output.

Sadly, Reddy’s associates have had little luck with banks. They hesitate to lend. A group of seven investors, based in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, have put money in two dairies in Tiptur. Some of them are information technology professionals. One owns pharmaceutical units. Another has a resort in Kutch and exports dates.

Sunil’s dairy in Alur has a covered platform on stilts where some of them spend weekends in tents. The bucolic setting is a break from Bengaluru’s bustle.

‘We have taken it up as a research project, says Sandeep Kamath, a marketing consultant and secretary of the Biodynamic Association of India. (Biodynamic preparations are made from buried cow horns filled with banyan tree soil, which is said to produce microbes that can enrich compost and ward off fungal diseases. The Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research at Modipuram near Delhi, says the claims are exaggerated).

The group ambition is for dairies they have invested in - to each produce 200 litres of milk per day. They are willing to meet a part of the capital and operational expenditure. They expect a return of around 18 per cent. If inclined, they can continue as partners, or exit after a few years by selling their shares to the farmer-owners.

Reddy’s next plan is to make his farmer associates shareholders in Akshyakalpa, which is a private company. That way, he thinks, it will become a movement.

(Vivian Fernandes is editor of www.smartindianagriculture.in)