Akib of Nuh district, Haryana, followed traditional livestock management practices and experienced the challenge of low milk production from his cattle. Like other milch animals, his cattle was also prone to diseases and gradually produced lower quantities of milk. This, in turn, limited his earnings from livestock, which formed a supplementary source of his income. He mentions with dismay, “I have spent a lot of money for regularizing milk production and also consulted veterinary doctor for disease management, but to no avail.”
In July 2021, Akib attended a community meeting, organized under a CSR supported project, implemented by S M Sehgal Foundation, through which he came to know about the importance of animal balanced nutrition. He immediately expressed interest in adopting the animal nutrition kits that were distributed to selected beneficiaries. He received the kit of mineral mixture fortified with vitamins and chromium along with deworming tablets, as well as training on importance of balanced animal nutrition like mixing of green and dry fodder with supplements, and he learned about clean milking, among other topics.
Toward the end of July 2021, Akib started using the animal balanced nutrition feed on his milch animal, which had delivered a calf a couple of months before. The mother was still weak at that time and was able to deliver six liters of milk per day. After a month of continuous use of improved nutrition, he noticed an increase of 2–3 liters of milk per day. He also noticed that the mother was regaining the strength she had lost due to pregnancy.
Akib says, “The Project has disseminated information on better animal nutrient management practices. The suggestion of including the farm waste and agricultural by-products as cattle feed along with animal nutrition mixture kits proves to be valuable and has potential to increase a farmer’s additional income from livestock.”
Authors: Ajeet Kumar and Akshay Gilbert
(Ajeet is field assistant, Nuh, and Akshay is project associate, Local Participation and Sustainability, S M Sehgal Foundation)
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