Documenti di Didattica
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BENCHMARK
Dr.Prabir Dutta
INTRODUCTION:
A dairy plant having the capacity of handling 2000 litres of milk per day was established
at Lahirimohanpur,in the district of Pabna(now Sirajgang district) established in the year
1946.The name of the organization was National Nutrients Co.Ltd. with the target to sell
the processed milk and milk products in Kolkata(India) as the city had railway link.But
the idea could not be materialized due to the partition of India during independence in the
year 1947.Afterwards Eastern Milk Products Ltd.emerged under the brand name of
“MilkVita”with the dairy products viz.milk,butter and ghee(boiled milk fat)etc under
private ownership.In year 1965 first “Eastern milk producers’co-operative society Union
Ltd” was formed by the Government patronization.But the economic condition of the
organization did not stable and there was no alternative but to hand it over to Co-
operative Marketing Society.
The project envisaged the purchase of milk from the individual poor,marginal and
landless milk producing farmers under the fold of Primary Milk Producer’s Co-operative
Societies with fair price and guaranteed market,transportation service of the milk to the
rural plants for preliminary processing and onward transportation to the main production
plants for final processing of market milk and other products with the brand
name”MilkVita”.
INTERNATIONAL AID:
In the year 1972,soon after independent Bangladesh FAO,UNDP and DANIDA provided
technical and financial assistance to establish a sustainable co-operative dairy
development programme.At initial level involved 4300 very poor and landless
households in remote rural areas and provided complete package of milk production
enhancing technologies,rural skill and capacity for milk collection,processing,marketing
system.Thus the two tier milkvita co-operative dairy complex has grown into a successful
commercial dairy enterprise.60,000 farmers have organized 400 primary village milk
producers co-operatives having processed and distributed to all the major cities of the
country.41.32 million litres of milk surplus to their household requirement and earned
Tk.696.85 million (US$12.04MILLION) and per capita increased to 1.91 litres in a day
while per capita and earning raised ten times in a day.
1.Poor nutrition /animal feed availability and land allotted to green fodder cultivation.
2.Poor organization of primary animal agriculture producers.
3.Poor extension service and information available to the farmers.
4.Problem associated with land ownership and absence of effective land and other
resources in planning of the country.
5.Poor market infrastructure
Farmers do not spare any land for cultivation of feeds to meet the requirement of
livestock.No doubt livestock play an important role in human nutrition,directly by
consumption of animal products and also through the sale of animals and animal products
to provide a source of income.But the contribution of livestock in providing food security
has seldom been examined and role of livestock in food security is still being
undervalued.
The dairy scenario of West Bengal is far from goal inspite of its rich livestock genetic
resources.The state now harvests 4.0 million metric tones of milk from a huge livestock
population of which 18.0 million cattle,1.0 million buffaloes,4.6 million goat and 1.4
million sheep respectively.The per capita availability is 130 gm/day,which is much below
than the recommended requirement stated by Indian Council of Medical Research of
250gm/day.The state is in need of 6.2 million metric tones of milk per year for her 68
million people,besides the market demands for sweet production.The malady lies in the
poor productivity of its livestock,which can produce nearly 400 litres of milk in a
lactation period of 180 days.There are six agro-climatic zones in the state and cattle are
the predominant livestock species in the all zones.The alluvial zone has the highest
concentration of bovines(237/sq.km),while the hill zone has the lowest
concentration(75/sq.km).
The state is highly suitable for sustaining high yielding crossbred cattle in all the zones
and Murrah buffaloes in the plains region.The choice of exotic sire will depend upon the
climatic condition and the availability of feed resources.Holstein-Friesian and Jersey,
both the temperate breeds are suitable for crossbreeding.But,Jersey crosses are more
efficient in milk production and earn more revenue because of higher fat and SNF content
in milk than Holstein-Friesian crosses.Inspite of Government target breeding policy to
resort to crossbreeding with Holstein-Friesian/Jersey breeds of sire limited to 50% of
exotic inheritance in West Bengal,the crossbreeds constitute 5% of the total cattle
population in the state.It proves that the farmers are not averse to adopt crossbreeding
technology to enhance milk production if opportunities were available.In West
Bengal,79% of the rural population are farmers.Dairing may provide them an opportunity
for earning livelihood for ever-growing unemployed youths both in rural and urban.
60,000 poor,landless and marginal milk producing farmers who used to be exploited by
middlemen in traditional marketing system receive fair price through sale milk in a
guarunted market.
3,00,000 farmers’families who are directly dependant on the income of the Co-operative
members for their livelihood.
More than 500 Rickshaw pullers have been engaged in the distribution system getting the
daily cash income.
More than 4000 people have got jobs both in rural and urban areas in milk production and
transportation.
Nearly 750 people have been engaged in the different plants and head office of the
organization.
100 new Co-operative farmers each year receive dividend and credit for cattle purchase.
In fact through the planned activities,not only fulfilling the poverty alleviation by way of
socio-economic development of the poor,marginal and landless farmers,but also helping
in increasing supply of quality milk and milk products to the citydwellers.
CONCLUSION:
Forming of an appropriate dairy policy of the country within a given period depicting all
pertinent issues;formation of the Dairy Development Board of Bangladesh with the
professional of the sector assuring adequate authority and autonomy;acquisition of land
for cattle grazing;Government,National and International assistance in the milk sector
both for plant establishment and infra-structural support;replication of Milk Vita model in
other part of the country through Government initiatives and funding both for farmers
and consumers benefit;channelising the poverty alleviation programmes through the
infrastructure of Milk Vita in all the milk-shed areas of Bangladesh.
With changing health scenario linked to nutrition and increasing purchasing power by
income generation thereby higher life expectancy will be fruitful by implementation of
above major issues effectively enhancing the domestic agricultural production.
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