4 months ago
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Muneppa (65) of Jangala Agraharam colony successful Palamaner Assembly constituency sits by a wood roadworthy starring to the Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary, watching his 8 milch cows and a bull graze astatine a distance. His time begins astatine 3 a.m., erstwhile helium milks his cattle and transports to a adjacent postulation centre implicit 20 litres of beverage — which, helium fondly calls, “white liquid gold.”
He repeats the regular successful the evening. “Early to rise, aboriginal to sleep. I person nary plans but to summation my herd,” Muneppa's words look to travel retired of confidence, arsenic helium bets large connected the aboriginal of his dairy business.
“I was a pauper successful 2020. I struggled to wage my grandchildren’s schoolhouse fees. I owned conscionable 2 cows then,” helium recalls. “Today, I person eight. My grandson studies engineering successful Bengaluru, and my granddaughter’s matrimony was conducted decently recently,” helium says, exuding pridefulness and contentment.
Like Muneppa, thousands of dairy farmers crossed Chittoor territory harbour akin aspirations. The formidable beingness of the dairy assemblage is thing adjacent a casual visitant to the territory volition not neglect to notice.
Producing an estimated 18–20 lakh litres of beverage daily, Chittoor ranks among India’s astir productive beverage belts. Its output feeds not lone section populations but besides large municipality centres specified arsenic Tirupati, Bengaluru and Chennai, too hundreds of different towns crossed Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
From the lush villages of Kuppam and Palamaner bordering Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to the semi-arid plains of Bangarupalem, Puthalapattu and Nagari, beverage flows done a dense web of postulation routes, sustaining tens of thousands of agrarian households.
Yet, beneath this standard of prosperity lies a assemblage grappling with terms volatility, fragmented procurement, rising input costs and organization gaps.
Small farmers, large stakes
Over 80% of dairy farmers successful Chittoor are tiny and marginal, typically owning 2 to 4 cattle. For them, beverage is not simply an cultivation commodity but an alternate root of sustenance to support the wolf from the door.
Dairy serves arsenic a captious livelihood buffer, supplementing rain-dependent agriculture and ensuring dependable currency travel during harvest failures oregon thin seasons. In mandals specified arsenic Baireddipalle, V. Kota, Ramakuppam, Gangavaram, Palamaner and Gudupalle, dairy income pays for groceries, schoolhouse fees, energy bills, veterinary medicines and aesculapian emergencies.
A household selling 20 litres a time earns astir ₹600, an magnitude that often determines its survival.
Women, the invisible pillars
Women enarthrosis the unseen load of this economy. From feeding and cleaning to milking, bookkeeping and beverage delivery, they tally the assemblage extremity to end. With men migrating seasonally for operation oregon concern work, dairy operations successful regions similar Kuppam and Palamaner are astir wholly successful women’s hands.
Across Chittoor’s villages, women are the sector’s soundless managers: maintaining accounts, coordinating deliveries and negotiating with procurement agents. When prices fall, it is they who recalibrate household budgets, defer healthcare oregon instrumentality connected further wage work.
Women-led Bulk Milk Chilling Units (BMCUs) person demonstrated however decentralised institutions tin stabilise incomes and amended governance. However, backing constraints, powerfulness proviso issues and attraction costs bounds their scalability.
“Dairy gives america dignity and regular cash, but lone erstwhile prices are fair,” says Kathali Jamuna (34) of Kuppam.
Severe blow
The illness of the Chittoor Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union astir 2 decades ago, pursuing the shutdown of Vijaya Dairy, near the assemblage astatine a crossroads.
Once a flagship instauration processing lakhs of litres a day, Vijaya Dairy offered unchangeable prices, assured payments and corporate bargaining power. Its closure shattered that ecosystem, allowing backstage dairies, traders and committee agents to predominate procurement.
Prices present alteration not conscionable crossed mandals, but betwixt neighbouring villages, depending connected purchaser dominance and volumes.
“Milk indispensable beryllium sold wrong hours. If we cull today’s price, we suffer the full quantity,” says Anjamma (45) of V. Kota.
Currently, cattle beverage prices scope betwixt ₹27 and ₹32 per litre, portion buffalo beverage fetches ₹35–₹38, depending connected abdominous and SNF content. Rising feed, fodder, transport and veterinary costs, however, person sharply reduced nett margins.
Even a ₹2 driblet successful procurement terms per litre tin outgo a tiny husbandman ₹1,200–₹1,500 a month, a superior blow.
Chilling units and Amul’s entry
The dispersed of BMCUs has been a game-changer. Chittoor has astir 100 functional chilling units, managed by women’s SHGs, colony cooperatives and shaper collectives. With capacities of 2,000–3,000 litres a day, they collectively chill implicit 3 lakh litres daily.
Chilled beverage fetches ₹3–₹7 much per litre than mean beverage sold to middlemen.
“Digital testing, printed receipts and fixed outgo cycles person improved transparency,” says Ganapathi (54) of Kuppam.
Another large alleviation has been the introduction of Amul done State-backed initiatives, reintroducing a competitory benchmark. Farmers study amended prices, transparent investigating and assured payments, forcing backstage dairies to revise rates upward.
Yet, pleas to revive a cooperative dairy operation stay unheard.
“During the cooperative era, Chittoor was known arsenic Andhra’s Anand. That tag volition stay past if nary enactment is taken to revive it,” says Krishnappa Mani (62) of Palamaner.
Fodder, different shortages
As a rain-dependent and partially rain-shadow region, Chittoor faces chronic fodder shortages, particularly successful eastbound mandals. Summer vigor from March to August reduces yields and fertility.
Officials estimation a 30–35% greenish fodder shortfall during summer, with fodder prices rising by 25–30% and beverage yields dropping 20–30%.
While fodder conditions are comparatively amended successful Kuppam and Palamaner, mandals specified arsenic Nagari, G.D. Nellore and S.R. Puram stay vulnerable.
“We look shortages of veterinarians, delayed exigency attraction and constricted entree to affordable insurance,” says Jhansi (50), a husbandman from Nagari.
On the different hand, younker information excessively remains uncertain. Many presumption dairy arsenic labour-intensive with uncertain returns. In immoderate villages, households are softly exiting the sector, adjacent though schemes promoting fodder crops, silage mentation and assemblage fodder banks person been rolled retired and implicit 2,000 cattle sheds sanctioned.
The roadworthy ahead
Animal Husbandry officials task that Chittoor could standard up to 30 lakh litres per time by the extremity of the decennary done improved breeds, expanded chilling infrastructure and organised procurement.
Kuppam unsocial contributes implicit 8 lakh litres daily, and officials accidental beverage output determination could emergence by different 10 lakh litres soon.
Responding to farmers’ concerns, Dr. D. Uma Maheswari, Joint Director, Animal Husbandry, Chittoor, says a multi-pronged strategy has been adopted to springiness the assemblage the much-needed push.
“We are strengthening veterinary services, expanding artificial insemination utilizing sex-sorted and high-genetic merit semen, improving provender information and creating robust marketplace linkages,” she says.
The focus, she adds, is connected securing livelihoods portion maintaining Chittoor’s presumption arsenic 1 of Andhra Pradesh’s starring milk-producing districts.
Even arsenic municipality centres crossed Rayalaseema and Tamil Nadu proceed to beryllium connected Chittoor’s milk, farmers airs a cardinal question: “Can a territory that feeds millions spend to fto its dairy households tally astatine a loss?’’
As Chandrasekhar (35) of Irala mandal puts it across, '’The existent measurement of occurrence is not litres produced, but unafraid livelihoods and a aboriginal worthy striving for.”
