In a village, dear dairy...

Shankaranarayana, the tiny hamlet at the foothills of the Western Ghats infamously known for harbouring Maoist activities, is now praised for a move that has empowered women.

The village, which comprises agricultural land, now sprouts dairy farming in lieu of its crop-cultivation failure. Although the land was owned and cultivated by its men, the women who found themselves jobless thrived to convert their leisure into productivity.

Ganga, a member of the dairy farming cooperative, says that initially, the menfolk there earned and spent for their requirement alone, giving family commitments no priority. But now, the families in the village are in a better condition owing to the self-employment of its women, who are financially empowered through dairy farming.

The beginning

It all started in 1978 when Dayanand Rao, who, as the CEO of the dairy cooperative, reinvented dairy farming.

The set-up started with a target production of six to seven litres of milk. The farmers reared the Malnad Gidda breed for this purpose. This cattle variety exists now, but it’s only used in the production of gobar gas. The artificial insemination leading to cattle cross-breeding ensured that the efforts by Rao and his team were successful.

Today, they offer cattle to not only Shankaranaryana, but also to different parts of the state.

The women realised the need to work for themselves and their children, says Rao. It was a coincidence that both he and the farmers, mostly women, decided to join hands to change the destiny of the village.

Rao says the cooperative receives 3,500 litres of milk now and hands out 20 to 25 lakh of payment, including incentives by the government, annually. The majority of its 405 members are women. They earn anywhere between Rs 2,500 to Rs 11,000 per 10 days depending on their contribution. Most of them even have bank savings.

Dairy farmer Prema Lakshman says the earnings have helped them to educate children, too. Some have become engineers and some hold government jobs, and they are all well-settled, she adds with pride in her eyes.

Parvathy Shedthi, who once offered not less than 100 litres of milk to the cooperative society, could build a lavish house by borrowing a loan. She could also repay the loan through the incentives she received by selling milk. She is one of the major contributors to the cooperative.

Rao says as women milk cows in large amounts, the children, especially those who once suffered from malnutrition, now get nutrients.

He says earlier, a household consumed 100 ml of milk a day. Today, the consumption limit has increased to 2-3 litres.

Prema says the money earned is also used to construct toilets.

Indeed, every woman in the village cherishes this success saga.