Dairy development through natural resource management: a success story of drought prone village in India

S Phand, R Tiwari* and H P S Arya**

Division of Extension Education, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar (IVRI), Bareilly, U.P.-243 122
shahajiphand@rediffmail.com
* Agriculture Technology Information Centre, IVRI, Izatnagar, Bareilly, U.P.-243 122
rupasi@ivri.up.nic.in
** Division of Extension Education, IVRI, Izatnagar, Bareilly, U.P.-243 122
hpsarya@ ivri.up.nic.in
(Part of the M.V.Sc Thesis work of the first author)

Abstract

Livestock sector is a powerful tool for sustenance of millions of poor worldwide, who otherwise becomes a victim of monsoon vagaries. Though the veterinary sciences have been blessed with a powerful tool but mere awareness and availability will not suffice the purpose. The ultimate end user i.e the farmers should be in position to take advantage of this situation and therefore the basic issues should be address first which are in the way of livestock sector development. Village economy and its development are based on its natural resource and their successful management by the village community for production. Natural resource management therefore has to be the key pin for an effective strategy for rural development. Livestock has been seen always a subsidiary of agriculture rather than as a separate entity, therefore failure in one will always affects the others. If this symbiotic relationships of these two sectors need to be success, then there is need of a holistic approach of development, which should address the basic issues such as water availability for irrigation, strategy to overcome frequent draft, infrastructure and organizational development for marketing and processing of the products through grass root level institutional mechanism. In 1985 with this holistic approach a Government of Maharashtra (India) came forward with its new programme called Adarsh Gaon Yojana (AGY) (Ideal Village Scheme), based on natural resource management. The programme was undertaken in 300 villages across 300 blocks in Maharashtra.

The present study was carried out at Hiware Bazar village of Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra to find out the impact of AGY on different sectors. A research design used for the study was 'Before-After with Control' and data was collected through 'Personal Interview' and 'Secondary Sources'. A total 117 respondents were selected randomly for the study (54 from Experimental Village and 54 from Control Village); similarly data was collected from 9 Government officials who were concerned to implementation of AGY in that village. Secondary data was also collected from Grampanchyat office (village administration unit) and NGO involved in the implementation of AGY to crosscheck the respondent's response.

The present study revealed that, programme achieved great success particularly in the drought prone areas. Due to community watershed management; today ensured water availability is the biggest asset in the village. Agriculture and allied field has been revitalized. Villagers have turned toward the commercial cropping system. Today nearly 70 percent of villagers are engaged in dairy farming as a subsidiary occupation moreover it is now one of the major commercial enterprises in the village. In nutshell the overall impact of AGY can be summarized in terms of economic development, as earlier (Before 1994) out of 180 families, 168 were 'Below Poverty Line' and today (2004-05) it was noted proudly that, not a single family in the village is BPL (Phand 2005)

The basic idea of Government of Maharashtra to start 'Ideal Village Scheme' was to overcome frequent drought through natural resource management by village community themselves. The findings of present study have revealed that, this approach is very much successful in achieving the set objectives and can further be replicated to other villages also.

Keywords: Dairy development, ideal village scheme, natural resource management

Introduction

Village economy and its development are based on its natural resource and their management for production. Natural resource management therefore has to be the key pin for an effective strategy for rural development in general and livestock sector in particular. Most of the rural development models have therefore considered natural resource management as the means for rural transformation. (Singh 2004)

FAO (Mishra No date) has defined 'Natural Resources Management' as the management and conservation of the natural resources base, and the orientation of technological and institutional change in such a manner as to ensure the attainment and continued satisfaction of human needs for present and future generations. Such sustainable development conserves land, water, plant and animal genetic resources and is environmentally non-degrading, technically appropriate, economically viable and socially acceptable.

According to ILRI (2000), if livestock were to play a sustained role in improving the livelihoods of many millions of poor people who currently depended on them, the trade-offs between increasing income and food security while conserving natural resource needed to be understood and balanced, in the context of this multitude of factors, requiring an integrated approach to natural resource management.

Livestock had been seen always as a subsidiary of agriculture rather than as a separate entity and due to monsoon vagaries failure in one will always affects the others. Moreover it is a common phenomenon of drought prone region of India like Maharshtra where only 16 % of land has assured irrigation facilities. If this symbiotic relationships of these two sectors need to be success, then there is need of a holistic approach of development. Which should address the basic issues such as strategy to overcome frequent draft through watershed development, natural resource management; and thereby agriculture, fodder development; infrastructure development; marketing and processing of livestock products through grass root level institutional mechanism i.e cooperative milk society; to achieve the ultimate goal of socio-economic development of rural masses.

In 1985 with this holistic approach of rural development a Government of Maharashtra came forward with its new programme called 'Adarsh Gaon Yojana' (AGY) (Ideal Village Scheme). The implementation of the programme was based on the following "Panchasutra" (The five principles) i.e. Donation of Labor (Shramdan), Ban on Grazing (Kurhad Bandi), Ban on Tree cutting (Charai Bandi), Ban on Liquor (Nasha Bandi), Family Planning (Kutumb Niyojan). The criteria for selection of village under this programme is that, village should be located in a drought prone area and should have shortage of drinking water as their major problem. The villagers should have to take an oath to follow above five principles (Warghade 2003). The 'AGY' aims at encouraging the villages to become self-sufficient and self-reliant by following the five principles and involving them in the watershed development programme with the assistance of NGO and government departments.

Though the initially programme was undertaken in 300 villages across 300 blocks in Maharashtra, but it was observed that even after 20 years implementation of programme only few villages have successful to get honored with 'Ideal Village'. Therefore in order to find out the secrets of successful villages a comprehensive study was undertaken. The present paper revealed the impact of AGY on dairy sector, particularly changes in livestock population, productivity, production and thereby income from livestock sector.
 

Research methodology

A research design used for the study was 'Before-After with Control' to reveal the impact of implementation of AGY in selected village.

Locale of the study

The present study was carried out purposively in two villages of Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. One was Hiware Bazar,  a small hamlet (Table.1), where the Government of Maharashtra has implemented this programme in 1994 through Grampanchyat (Village level administrative unit). Another village named Jamgaon 20 km. away from the Hiware Bazar was selected as control village for the comparative purpose, where no such programme was implemented. The rationale for selection of 'Hiware Bazar' is that, AGY was implemented in village on 15 August 1994 and it was declared as an 'Ideal Village' in 1998; that means it took only four years to get that honor so it was felt necessary to study the secrets of success (Photo 1).

Similarly the purpose of selection of 'Hiware Bazar' for 'Before AGY' study is that, though it is comparative study with control village but in social science studies it is very difficult to select a control village, which have similar demographic situation to that of the experimental village i.e Location, population size, infrastructure, accessibility to outside market or input agencies. Therefore to have a better picture of impact of AGY it was felt necessary to study the situation of 'Hiware Bazar' village prior to the implementation of AGY, so it can be reveal better; to what extent AGY is successful in changing the socioeconomic condition of villages.

Sampling procedure

A total 117 respondents were selected randomly for the study (54 from Hiware Bazar (Village- X / Experimental Village) and 54 from Jamgaon (Village- Y/ Control Village), which consist of 51 landholder and 3 landless respondents in each village. In addition the data was collected from 9 government officials who were concerned to implementation of AGY in that village.

Data collection

A pre tested semi structured interview schedule and direct observation was utilized for data collection. The data was collected on 'Before- After' basis which includes personal variables (age, education, family size, occupation, land holding size), Natural resource management and watershed development variables (continuous contour trench, loose boulder, earthen structure, percolation tank, water storage structures, cement bunds), Livestock development variables (herd size, herd management, milk productivity, milk production), Economic traits (annual income from livestock sector, total income). In addition secondary data was also collected from Grampanchyat office and NGO involved in the implementation of AGY to crosscheck the respondent's response.

Data analysis

Descriptive statistical tools like frequencies, percentages and percent change were utilized for analyzing the data.

'Before- After' concept

In the present paper the 'Before-After' concept has been used which is explained as follows; The year '1994-95' has been taken as references point to explain situation 'Before AGY' i.e 'Before 1994-95' for the experimental village (Hiware Bazar / Village-X) because the AGY was implemented on 15 August 1994 in that village, while the year '2004-05' has taken as 'After AGY' to show the impact of AGY as the study was undertaken in this particular year. i.e. about 10 years of implementation period. Similarly, for the control village (Jamgaon / Village-Y) where AGY has not been implemented, but same '10 years' period (1994-95 to 2004-05) was considered to explain comparative situation in that village.

Results and discussion

Personal variables

Table 2 indicates that, the selected respondents in the present study ranged between 20 to 70 years of age in both villages and most of them belonged to general caste.

The average family size in Hiware Bazar village was found 5.76, while in village it was 7.0. Majority (94.44 %) of the respondents had agriculture as their main occupation in both villages with average land holding in Hiware Bazar village is 3.90 hectares and 5.00 hectares in Jamgaon village. There was found considerable difference in subsidiary occupation of villages. In Hiware Bazar village nearly 70 percent of respondent was engaged in dairy farming as subsidiary occupation. Regarding the educational status of respondents' literacy percentage was far better in Hiware Bazar village (89.67 %) than Jamgaon village (53.2 %) (Phand 2005).

Natural Resource Management

Watershed development

Being a major component of AGY today villagers has created various water percolations and storage structures on private and common village land through people participation and availing various government schemes. Data was collected through secondary sources on before and after basis regarding the number of such structures created, area covered under such structures, similarly area covered under the tree plantation and total cultivable land (in hectares) in the village. Table 3 shows clearly that as watershed management is the part of AGY implemented in Hiware Bazar village, there were more such structures as compared to its 'before' situation and also to that of the Jamgaon village (Phand 2005).

Major decisions taken for natural resource management

It was notably observed in Hiware Bazar village that, apart from the five principles of AGY i.e. Donation of Labor, Ban on Grazing, Ban on Tree cutting, Ban on Liquor and Family Planning. In order to sustain the development of the village; the villagers had taken certain other decisions in the Gramsabha (General meeting of villagers) such as; Water intensive crops like sugarcane and banana have been prohibited in the village, Use the micro-irrigation methods (drip and sprinkle) for horticultural crops, Ban on bore-wells for the irrigation purpose and Ban on selling of village land to any non- citizen of the village, but no such measures were found in the Jamgaon village (Phand 2005).

Herd size

This refers to the total number of animal heads such as cattle, buffaloes, heifers, bullocks, sheep, goats and as well as birds owned by the respondent. It was measured by actual enumeration. Table 4 shows that, there was sizeable increase in number of milch animals i.e. buffaloes, indigenous cows and crossbreds in Hiware Bazar village as compared to its situation 'before' AGY and also than that of the Jamgaon village. The average milch animals of respondents family was increased from 5.2 to 7 after AGY in Hiware Bazar village, while it shows decreasing trend in Jamgaon village. Though the crossbred was introduced 'after' AGY (1994-95) in both the villages, but in Hiware Bazar village there are 78 percent more crossbred population than the Jamgaon village. Regarding the goats and poultry there was more or less decreasing trend in both villages (Phand 2005)

Herd Management

Housing

Data on various practices of livestock rearing followed by the respondents before and after implementation of AGY, such as housing, feeding, breeding and health care aspects of different livestock being reared by the respondents were collected.

Table 5 reveals housing condition of livestock, in Hiware Bazar village where almost 68.52 % respondents were housing their animals in Katcha type of house and 27.78 % had no shed at all prior to AGY, as compared to about 44.44 % of the respondents who had Kathca house and 55.56 % who had Pucca house indicating a 1400 % change. No animal remained without housing in Hiware Bazar village after AGY. Moreover the situation changed in Jamgaon village also showing an improvement with 400 % increase in Pucca houses. Still 33.33 % respondents had no shed for housing their animals in Jamgaon village (Phand 2005).

Feeding

It is clear from the table 6 that almost all respondents were practicing mixed type of feeding i.e. Grazing and Stall feeding 'before AGY' in both villages, but due to strict ban on grazing in Hiware Bazar village, most of respondents (75.9 %) turned towards stall feeding, but the mixed type of feeding (77.8 %) still prevails in Jamgaon village (Phand 2005).

Vaccination and deworming

Table 7 indicates vaccination status of livestock against some common ailments in both of the villages. It is evident from the table that, most of the respondents followed vaccination regularly specially after AGY against HS and FMD diseases in both the villages. But in case of Black Quarter, it is still neglected in Jamgaon village showing only 27.8 % respondent vaccinates their animal against BQ as compare to 94.4 % in Hiware Bazar village.

Vaccination of goat against PPR shows increasing trend in both villages, but was lesser in Jamgaon village (22.22 %) as compared to X (87.04 %). In Hiware Bazar village all respondents found to follow deworming practice after AGY, where as in Jamgaon village only 40.7 % respondents have started deworming practice (Phand 2005).

Breeding practices

Artificial insemination (AI) is well proven economically breeding practice for large ruminants. Table 8 shows livestock breeding practices in the village, though after AGY the respondents of both villages turned towards AI, but it is more popular in Hiware Bazar village ( i.e 91.67 % and 88.89 % in case of indigenous cow and buffaloes respectively ) than Y (25.93 % and 25 % ) Regarding crossbreds 100 % respondents followed AI in both villages (Phand 2005).

Treatment of animals

Table 9 shows substantial improvement in awareness of the respondents regarding treatment of animals in both villages. About 96 % of the respondents in Hiware Bazar village turned towards qualified veterinarian for animal treatment showing 225 % change against the Jamgaon village. i.e. 114.29 % (Phand 2005).

Milk Productivity

It can be viewed from the Table 10 that there was substantial increase in the productivity of milch animals.

In Hiware Bazar village, productivity of indigenous cows increased by 52.08 % and for buffaloes it increased by 32.62 %, which may be the result of better management practices by the respondents, While in Jamgaon village productivity of indigenous cows raised marginally by 11.11 % and that of buffaloes by 6.38 %. It is also clear from the table that crossbreds were introduced in both the villages 'after AGY', but their productivity was found to be considerably higher (3650 liters/ year) in Hiware Bazar village as compared to that in Jamgaon village (2920 liters/ year) (Phand 2005).

Milk Production

Table 11 indicates the total milk production (in liters/ year) in the household of respondents from all livestock such as indigenous cows, crossbreds and buffaloes for a total lactation length.

Before start of AGY (1994-95) the milk in Hiware Bazar village was about 537 liter / family / year which was raised 5624 liter / family / year, While in Jamgaon village it was 371 liter / family / year which reached up to 1139 liter / family / year i.e. about 947 percent and 207 percent change Hiware Bazar village and Jamgaon village respectively (Phand 2005) (Figures 1, 2 and 3).

Gross income from livestock enterprise (rupees / year)

Data regarding the sources of income from livestock enterprise was collected from the respondents for the year 2003-2004. The major livestock sources considered for the study were: milk, manure and the livestock sold in a year. The value of each item was estimated according to the current market rates at the time of study for 'After' (2004-05) situation. For 'before' situation price change effect was eliminated by considering the change in "Wholesale Price Index" in 10 years. It is observed that "Wholesale Price Index" has been changed by 194 % during this period. (Pagire and Shinde 1999)

Table 12 indicates that, in Hiware Bazar village before the implementation of AGY (1994-95) the average income of family from livestock was only Rs. 1754 / year, which is raised upto Rs. 48,823 / year showing 2,682 percent change over the years. While in case of Jamgaon village it was Rs.1525 / year in 1994-95 which rose marginally upto Rs. 11933 / year.

The major reason for this marginal growth was unavailability of water due frequent drought situation in Jamgaon village (Phand 2005).

Average total income of family (rupees / year)

It refers to the total annual income of each family earned through various sources like agriculture, livestock, and farm labor etc. (Figure 4).

It can be viewed from the Table 13 that, though there is marginal difference in the agricultural income of both the villages in 2004-05, but the percentage change in income from agriculture is substantially higher in Hiware Bazar village (1061 %). than Jamgaon village (437 %)

It can be seen notably that, there is great difference in average income of family from livestock sources particularly from milk, which is increased by 28 times over a period of time in Hiware Bazar village and stood as major contributor of total income i.e. Rs. 48,823/ year. Moreover it can be said that in Hiware Bazar village livestock sector has been shifted from a subsidiary occupation to a commercial enterprise contributing equally or more towards total income of the respondents. While in Jamgaon village it increased by only 8 times.

Before AGY (1994-95) in Hiware Bazar village the average total income family was only Rs. 8058 / year, which raised upto Rs. 132853 / year in 2004-05. While in Hiware Bazar village it was Rs. 16692/ year, which rose to Rs. 95673 / year in 2004-05. It can be noticed that in 1994-95 the average total income of families in Jamgaon village was almost double to that of Hiware Bazar village, which can be attributed to larger land holding size (5.00 ha.) as compare to Hiware Bazar village (3.90 ha.). But due to frequent drought over the years the growth of total income was found marginal (473 %) in Jamgaon village than the Hiware Bazar village (1549 %). Therefore it is evident that for sustenance of rural economy natural resource management; particularly water management by the village community is essential component.

Moreover, It can be noticed from table 12 that prior to implementation of AGY (1994-95) in Hiware Bazar village, the per capita income was only Rs. 1343 / year which rose to the Rs. 22142 / year in 2004-05 i.e. about 16.6 times, which is nothing but the impact of AGY, while in Jamgaon village it was Rs. 2385 / year in 1994-95 which reached to Rs. 13668 / year in 2004-05 i.e. only 5.7 times (Phand 2005).

Conclusions

• Agricultural sector is the key component of rural economy which totally depends on monsoon particularly in the drought prone region of India. Though the government initiatives are in progress to overcome frequent drought situation but many a times it may not be adequate and timely. On other hand drought and poverty will not subside by giving temporary help to the villagers, but the local community initiatives within the purview of 'Panchyati Raj System' (Village Level Administrative System) is the most important approach. A local community initiative for successful management of natural resources of village through government assistance is the key component for sustainable development, which has been followed in implementation of AGY. The self regulatory code of conduct of AGY i.e. Donation of Labor (Shramdan), Ban on Grazing (Kurhad Bandi), Ban on Tree cutting (Charai Bandi), Ban on Liquor (Nasha Bandi), Family Planning (Kutumb Niyojan) has achieved great success in rural development particularly in the drought prone areas, which not only ensured the water availability for agriculture through their watershed management approach, but also proved successful for livestock development. Due to availability of fodder and livestock related facilities in the village; today 70 percent of the villagers turned to commercial dairy farming, which paved the way for institutional building (milk co-operatives) and taking advantages of new technologies like AI and Scientific management of livestock.
  
  
• Scientific management of livestock has raised productivity of crossbred up to 3650 liter/ year in Hiware Bazar village as compared to the Jamgaon village (2920 liter/ year). Before start of AGY (1994-95) the average milk production in the respondent's families in Hiware Bazar village was merely 537 liter / year which is upto raised 5624 liter / year and the average family income from livestock sector increased upto Rs. 48,823 / year in 2004-05 from Rs. 1754 / year in 1994-95 showing 2,682 percent change over the years.
  
  
• Moreover it can be says, that in Hiware Bazar village, dairy farming is no more as a subsidiary occupation but have changed to commercial enterprises contributing equally or more towards total income of the respondents. In nutshell the overall impact of AGY can be summarized in terms of economic development, as evident from the fact that neither a single family was 'Below Poverty Line' nor a single person was unemployed during inquiry as compared to the situation before implementation of AGY, when 168 out of 180 families were 'Below Poverty Line' in Hiware Bazar village. Therefore there is urgent need to replicate this model to other part of country particularly in drought prone area.
   

References

ILRI 2000 Livestock strategy to 2010 Making the livestock revolution work for the poor. ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute), Nairobi, Kenya. Pp. 112. http://www.ilri.org/InfoServ/Webpub/Fulldocs/Strategy_10/toc.htm

Mishra^, B No date. A successful case of participatory watershed management at Ralegan Siddhi Village in district Ahmadnagar, Maharastra, India. http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5669E/x5669e06.htm

Phand S 2005 A study on impact of Ralegan Siddhi model for rural transformation of Hiware Bazar village of Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. M.V.Sc thesis, Division of Extension Education, IVRI, Izatnagar. P.66-93.

Pagire B V and Shinde H R 1999 Report on economic evaluation of Adarsh Gaon Yojana: A case study of Hiware Bazar in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra.

Singh K 2004 Rural development: Principles, policies and management. Second edition, Sage publications, New Delhi. P. 2.

Warghade S 2003 'Hiware Bazar' chi Yashogatha(Marathi). Second edition. Hiware Bazar Pariwar publications, Ahmednagar. Maharashtra. P. 45-56.

Received 8 February 2007; Accepted 13 June 2007; Published 6 August 2007

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