Innovation and Project Management

Initiatives for strengthening livelihood opportunities of dairy farmers

Innovation and constant search for better ways to achieve the objectives of improving the socio-economic status of milk producers/farmers has been the constant endeavour of NDDB. This urge for constant improvement also helps in designing climate friendly interventions, quickly adopt to the changing conditions while remaining steadfast to the core values and principles of NDDB.

Some of the recent initiatives undertaken by Cooperative Services group are as below:

Manure Management initiative

NDDB undertook an initiative to establish a Manure Value Chain. The model of manure management was established to enable the small holder women farmers to make effective use of cattle dung to meet their cooking fuel needs, reduce their drudgery in dung management, reduce the health hazards of kitchen smoke, mitigate the adverse impact on environment and provide an additional source of regular income through the sale of by-products of digested slurry of biogas plants.

Manure Value Chain Model

Domestic biogas plants of small capacity (2 cubic metre) are installed by the women farmers in their backyard. Biogas generated is used as a clean cooking fuel. The bio-slurry produced by the biogas plants is primarily used in their own agriculture field while the surplus slurry is aggregated by the collective of women (or dairy cooperative) based on defined quality parameters through a transparent testing and measuring mechanism. Payment for procured slurry is transferred into the individual bank accounts of farmers.

Aggregated slurry is processed to manufacture solid and liquid based biofertilisers like Phosphate Rich Organic Manure (PROM), Liquid Micronutrient etc. and sold to farmers. Processing and marketing is either managed by the milk union or outsourced to an entrepreneur fully or partly. The surplus generated from the sale of products is paid back to the women farmers. This model offers dual benefits – on one hand the farmers receive additional income through the sale of bioslurry along with clean cooking fuel and on the other hand effective management of livestock dung leads to cleaner and healthier environment. The production and sale of organic manure from the bio-slurry also leads to a reduction in the cost of inputs in agriculture.

New National Biogas and Organic Manure Programme

NDDB is one of the Main Programme Implementing Agencies for Central Sector Scheme “New National Biogas and Organic Manure Programme” (NNBOMP). NDDB is implementing NNBOMP through the network of dairy cooperative milk unions / federations all over the country.

Biogas Power (Off-Grid) Generation and Thermal Application Programme

NDDB is one of the Programme Implementing Agencies for Central Sector Scheme “Biogas Power (Off-Grid) Generation and Thermal Application Programme” (BPGTP).

The objective of the scheme is to promote biogas generation for off-grid/ distributed and decentralised Renewable Power applications and also for thermal energy applications for industrial as well as domestic uses. The organic biodegradable wastes from various sources such as cattle dung/animal wastes, food & kitchen waste, poultry dropping waste, agro-industry waste etc. can be fed to Biogas plants. The scheme document can be accessed here https://mnre.gov.in/bio-energy/schemes

Solar Pump Irrigators’ Cooperative Enterprise

NDDB with support of International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited (REIL) implemented a pilot project by organising 11 farmers of Mujkuva village in Anand, Gujarat to form a Solar Pump Irrigators’ Cooperative Enterprise (SPICE). The farmers are harnessing solar energy in their own fields by installing solar panels and using it for irrigation through solar pumps. These solar pumps are connected to the DISCOM feeder through a micro grid established by the cooperative to sell the surplus solar energy to DISCOM. The members of Solar Cooperative reap dual benefits of additional income through the sale of electricity along with savings on energy bills for irrigation.

Mujkuva SPICE is country’s first such model wherein already Grid connected farmers, gave up their subsidised agriculture connection and opted for Grid connected solar pumps. Mujkuva SPICE was inaugurated by Honourable Prime Minister of India on 30th Sep 2018.

The lessons from SPICE model have helped Gujarat Government in modelling a scheme on similar lines titled Suryashakti Kisan Yojana (SKY). The Government of India has also launched a scheme Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthan Mahabhiayan (KUSUM) with an aim of propagating the spirit of SPICE model all over the country. Given the vast experience of NDDB in organising farmers for collective action and its strong affiliation to the dairy cooperative network, NDDB envisages to partner with dairy cooperatives all over the country for implementation of KUSUM scheme and propagate cooperative spirit by organising SPICEs across the country.

National Beekeeping and Honey Mission

Beekeeping acts as a catalyst in increasing yield of major agricultural and horticultural crops through cross pollination.

NDDB has embarked upon this mission of utilising the network of dairy co-operatives in the country for promotion of beekeeping among the farmers. Aligned with the well established value chain of procurement, processing and marketing of milk, NDDB is making efforts to establish similar value chain for honey as well.

NDDB has been included as one of the implementing agencies for implementation of National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) for promotion in the dairy co-operative network.