Tapping technology to boost milk production

GANAGALU/DODDANALLURA HALLI (Hoskote): A computer service store, a CET coaching centre and ATM kiosks of corporate banks — the road that separates Ganagalu village in Hoskote and NH-4 is not far removed from city life.
But step into Ganagalu, about 31km northeast of Bangalore, and you notice a marked difference, but for the handful of washing machines and colour TVs in some households.In this small village with 150 houses in a semi-arid region, agriculture is a tough business given the scarcity of water. But its lifeline, milk, has served the villagers well for over 25 years.
As one enters Ganagalu — the road quality shows Bangalore in poor light — Anjanappa's cattle, of Holstein and Abondance breeds, are seen lazing around. Anjanappa is the quintessential villager with no obsession for the jargons of urban India. But just before one concludes that he's shunned modern ways of doing things, he says: "This new machine in our milk co-operative society is a boon. Now I know what exactly happens and how much I am due."
The Data Processing Milk Collection Unit (DPMU) has been installed by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) as part of its National Dairy Plan, 2012. DPMU has done what over a dozen secretaries of the society in 25 years have failed to achieve: gain trust through transparency and accuracy. "The machine weighs the milk accurately, measures the fat content and can tell if it is diluted," says B Jayamma, a villager. Munirathnamma, Thyagaraja GK and Subbakka are among the many villagers who've benefitted. On an average, they earn at least 25-29 paise more per litre. Providing close to 500 litre of milk/day, they get paid Rs 22-23/litre.
What plan envisages: Introduced in 2012, the National Dairy Plan (NDP) aims at increasing procurement of milk through the organized sector by 54 lakh litre per day by 2017. T Nanda Kumar, chairman, NDDB, said: "In Karnataka, our target is to increase milk procurement by 60,000 litres per day, of which we have achieved 10,000 litres". "We want to cover 300 villages," he added.