Irfana Gull, a supervisor working with a women self-help group (SHG) in Pulwama town, about 40 kilometre from Srinagar, says that after they started working with the Jammu and Kashmir Milk Producers' Cooperative, not only has the income of the households increased but this has given an identity to hundreds of women who have joined the milk collection initiative along the lines of Gujarat.
Not only are they getting good prices for their milk but their household incomes have also increased manifold, adding stability to the otherwise fluctuating sources of income through tourism and horticulture etc. Gull had recently visited Anand, the headquarters of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) which owns and markets the brand Amul, with other women dairy farmers from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). In her own words, "The visit has motivated us further. We do not have such high-end dairy processing units in J&K. We saw how farmers have gained by associating with the dairy movement and in this model we all are owners, we all are equal shareholders."
For people like Irfana and Shaista Yusuf (from Goosu), dairying means an additional income of at least Rs 5,000-6,000 a month and a steady source of livelihood. Yusuf is paying for her college education through her income from dairy farming, while Gull, already a graduate, has risen through the ranks in the cooperative and now has steady work.
The work had begun around 2004 when GCMMF was asked to handhold the dairy farming outfits in J&K. Two defunct outfits – Kashmir Valley Milk Federation and Jammu Milk Federation – were brought under the same umbrella and the Jammu and Kashmir Milk Producers' Cooperative Ltd (JKMPL). GCMMF sits in the board of this cooperative, but, as of now, does not have any financial stake. It provides technical, financial and marketing advice.
From just about 3,000 farmers actively involved in dairying in 2004, now the number has swelled to 15,000 farmers. Mayank Tiwari, chief executive officer at JKMPL informed that, at present, there are around 350 fully automated collection centres and milk collection is around 30,000 litres per day. Furthermore, the milk collection is growing at 30 per cent annually.
Procurement prices are almost at par with that paid by cooperatives in Punjab. The procurement prices in Jammu are around Rs 615 per kg fat for cow milk and around Rs 600 per kg fat for buffalo milk, and in the Kashmir valley, it is around Rs 600 per kg fat for cow milk. Gul said that they were not fetching more than Rs 18 per litre for their milk earlier, which has now gone up to Rs 29-30 per litre and at times even goes up to Rs 42-44 per litre.
Tiwari explained that market prices in J&K are regulated by the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution department. Toned milk prices are around Rs 36 per litre in J&K while in Delhi it is around Rs 42 per litre.
The turnover of JKMPL grew by 43 per cent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 30.2 crore (provisional figures). The cooperative is now readying to get into production of fermented products like curd and buttermilk, among other things, mainly to cater to the tourist demand.
Interestingly, the milk and milk products in J&K are not sold under the Amul brand, but Snowcap brand. Tiwari explained, "This is because Amul has some production benchmarks for any milk or milk product to be branded as Amul. At present, the processing facilities in J&K are old ones and we are working on the modernisation of these facilities."
The Centre is funding the expansion and modernisation of processing plants in the area and around Rs 6 crore is being invested for the same under the National Programme for Dairy Development. Post modernisation and necessary certifications, the milk and milk products might even be branded under Amul.
The way forward is through the original Amul model which had started in Gujarat by involving and empowering rural women through SHGs. Already, 350 SHGs are functional in J&K and another 150 are expected to be functional by June this year.
Tiwari said that by end of the financial year 2017-18, around 25,000 to 30,000 households would be in the JKMPL fold and there would be at least 22,000 live pouring members.
Few private players also process around 3,000 to 4,000 litres per day in J&K, but they mostly buy milk from Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and even Rajasthan. Dairy farmers in the region are increasingly associating with Amul to ensure stable income in an otherwise volatile political climate in the region.