Success for IFCN workshop in India
During the 5th IFCN Regional Workshop in Anand, India, 50 experts from various backgrounds along the dairy value chain met to discuss topics ranging from the global dairy crisis to ideas for future dairy development.
The success of dairy development success can be related to two main drivers, the first being first access to market via a well-functioning and stable dairy value chain. R.S Sodhi, managing director at Amul, says, “If you want to develop dairy, provide market access through stable and sustainable market price to farmers.”
Secondly it needs a value creating dairy farming model which relates to the milk price that the consumer is able to pay. Torsten Hemme, managing director at IFCN, explains, “Once you have a dairy farming model where the costs are lower than the milk prices, rapid milk production growth is a natural consequence.”
The dairy experts discussed different strategies for more developed and lesser developed regions like in the eastern part India. In states like Orissa where milk production growth can be generated by focusing on the value chain like in the project operation flood. With low salaries, the traditional small scale dairy model with two cows and crop residuals as the feed base are creating prosperity for the farmers.
In more developed dairy regions as in Gujarat, the workshop concluded that successful dairy development shall focus more on skill development of the dairy farmers. Via that other aspects of dairy development, as the future dairy farming model, the fitting services, the development of the value chain or policy can be address.
IFCN chairman Anders Fagerberg concludes, “Let’s move on dairy development from a top-down to a more bottom up approach, so we can better insure that dairy farming is attractive for the next generation.”
