Revolutionary technologies for Assam’s dairy cooperatives

Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa is holding a discussion with Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying and Panchayati Raj, Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh, about strengthening the cold chain, which requires significant capital investment, to connect rural milk production centres with city or metropolitan markets that support dairy cooperatives in Assam. This discussion with Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying and Panchayati Raj, Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh, on strengthening dairy cooperatives in Assam is a timely and laudable initiative to fully unlock the state's milk production potential. Addressing the critical gaps in the sector, such as establishing Tetra Pak units and milk powder plants, improving livestock, enhancing veterinary care, and ensuring the availability of animal medicine, remains essential to achieving the state government's target of increasing daily milk procurement to 10 lakh litres. The procurement target set by the state government is a visionary one, and achieving it is strategically vital for creating large-scale livelihood avenues in the state's dairy sector and increasing the income of far-flung households. Dairy farmers forming milk cooperatives alone cannot guarantee sustainability in production increases, as the shelf life of liquid milk in the current dairy practice is tied to geographical and cold chain boundaries for price realisation. Milk supplied by farmers: Farmers must store milk in a chilling plant and transport it in a refrigerated tanker to processing units to prevent wastage. The application of Tetra Pak packaging technology and milk powder technology helps overcome these limitations by increasing the shelf life of milk procured by dairy cooperatives from their members. The lack of these technologies forces the cooperatives to sell their daily liquid milk procurement within 24 to 48 hours and only within a small radius, which prevents them from negotiating for a better price in the local market. Additionally, low profits for strengthening dairy cooperatives in the state through their margins limit their capacity to invest in creating a cold chain, which involves high capital expenditures, from rural milk production centres to a city or metropolitan market that has a high demand for liquid milk and milk derivatives. As Tetra Pak technology increases the shelf life of milk from three to six months without refrigeration, dairy cooperatives can overcome geographical and cold chain barriers to reach the shelves of malls, department stores, retail outlets, e-commerce platforms, and quick commerce supply chains, thereby expanding their market reach and enhancing their bargaining power based on quality and brand positioning. Application of milk powder technology has greater advantages compared to Tetra Pak technology, as both skimmed milk powder and whole milk powder compress the volume and weight and therefore increase transport efficiency. End consumers benefit from storage flexibility with Tetra Pak and milk powder, which increases demand and provides dairy cooperatives with opportunities to negotiate better prices. A remunerative price helps dairy farmers absorb the shocks of price volatility in green fodder and cattle feed. Keeping the retail price under check is vital to increasing per capita milk consumption, which plays a crucial role in boosting local demand. Dairy cooperatives will be reluctant to increase production without an assured market and remunerative price. Dairy farmers must obtain green fodder for fibre and digestion, as well as dry, concentrated, processed feed for protein and energy, at affordable prices to prevent volatility in the prices of milk and milk derivatives. This calls for the state government to prioritise the availability of both types of fodder at affordable prices to dairy cooperatives for sustainable growth in the sector, as fodder accounts for about 60 to 70% of the total cost of milk production. Reducing its dependence on processed dry cattle feed from outside will create huge livelihood opportunities in the supply and processing value chain for the state. However, the production of green fodder must include adequate crop-insurance safeguards against floods, droughts, or elephant depredation to ensure sustainable growth and self-reliance. Chief Minister Sarma and Union Minister Singh have outlined a clear roadmap for strengthening dairy cooperatives in the state through the application of modern technologies. The responsibilities now rest with the state animal husbandry and veterinary departments to act swiftly, hold stakeholder consultation with dairy cooperatives and industry to craft a comprehensive roadmap for strengthening dairy cooperatives, raise milk production and deliver on procurement goals. It will be important for dairy cooperatives to work with their members to teach them about the advantages of using modern technologies like Tetra Pak and milk powder technology, as these efforts will help the departments, cooperatives, and industry work together to improve the state's dairy sector, update the dairy value chain, and increase production. The department collaborating with the Registrar of Cooperatives is essential to streamline the functioning of dairy cooperatives, ensuring support for them under various government schemes, programmes and projects. The two largest dairy cooperatives in Assam have shown that investing in cold chain efficiency can greatly increase production and make it possible to offer a wider range of products. However, the Tetra Pak and milk powder technologies are crucial interventions required to fully harness the state's potential in the dairy sector. Strengthening Assam's dairy cooperatives will significantly contribute to the rebuilding and expansion of the cooperative movement across various sectors in the state.