Meet the student 'dairypreneurs'

The different dairy products marketed by the students of Dairy Sciences College, Hebbal. Credit: DH Photo/BK Janardhan

The students at work in their classroom-cum-business at the Dairy Science College in Hebbal, Bengaluru; (below) different dairy products launched by the students. Credit: DH Photo/BK Janardhan

Despite two successive waves of the pandemic, a group of students from the Dairy Science College (DSC) in Hebbal, Bengaluru are well on the way to becoming entrepreneurs.

With in-house technology and some timely guidance from faculty members, the final year B Tech students created a successful business right on campus — handling everything from procurement to sales.

The 42-year-old DSC is a constituent college of the Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University in Bidar and is one of the oldest dairy science institutes in the state.

Back in 2015, the Indian Council for Agricultural Research had launched the Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana (READY) programme to turn students into job providers.

Though READY has been running in a few colleges in Karnataka, they have not been able to realise its objective.

The DSC decided to take up the initiative four years ago, but it implementation was not effective. The programme was then formally relaunched last month.

The chosen students were given Rs 25,000 as seed money and divided into seven departments — procurement, production, quality assurance, marketing, cleaning and sanitation, sales and marketing.

The production facilities set up by the college years ago came in handy.

“Our priority was not to earn money, but to transform students as successful entrepreneurs and win consumers' trust," says Dr Mahesh Kumar G, Head, Department of Dairy Engineering. He is also the coordinator of the READY programme.

To ensure quality, the college decided to procure raw materials only from the Alepa Dairy in Arakalgud, Hassan district. Ravi Krishna, the dairy owner, is a DSC alumni and rears over 400 cattle.

After basic training, the group decided to produce organic ghee, paneer, sweet lassi, Greek yoghurt, Mysore pak, kulfi, srikhand, cold-pressed coconut oil, plain khoa and carrot halwa.

The process

The students have a rigorous training programme. They work from six in the morning to eight at night for four days a week, and attend classes on the other three days.

“They execute duties even on Sundays. There is no holiday as this affects the business. The hectic schedule has brought out entrepreneurial skills in them," he explains.

A WhatsApp group helped customers place orders and an outlet in the college campus was set up for direct sales.

Within a span of two months, the students have not just returned the Rs 25,000 seed money, but have also registered a net profit of Rs 1.5 lakh.

So far, organic ghee has been the best seller; the very first batch of carrot halwa was sold out the same day.

"The prices are pretty competitive and comparable to similar chemical-based products available in the market. The students have been able to sell over 1,600 kg of products in the last two months," adds Kumar.

Aryamba H L, a consumer, says she bought the ghee two months ago. Considering quality she has decided to buy regularly in future.

Chandrashekhar R G, another consumer, is all praise for the halwa. "The products are really delicious as the quality is assured. Halwa that I bought recently tasted great," he says.

Pawan, a consumer from Bidar, considers ghee as a top-rated product.

"Quality, colour, taste and aroma are good as it is not adulterated," he says.

Rajani, a homemaker from Bengaluru, says such efforts should be promoted. It will help build students' entrepreneurial skills and provide healthy products to consumers.

"We've been able to gain more confidence. We've acquired skills and this prepares us for self-employment after graduation," says Nalina S, a student who is part of the project.

Sanjeet Pradhan, a student from Odisha, says his work in the last two months has helped his interpersonal skills as he had to interact with different types of people at different levels.

"I plan to launch a startup utilising entrepreneurial skills gained here back in my state," says Ramya A, another student.

“In rural areas, there is surplus milk and farmers are ignorant of various milk-based value-added products. We want students to master the latest technology to utilise the surplus milk so that it largely benefits farmers and youth. The objective is to ensure that dairy farming is not restricted to the backyard, but becomes a primary occupation,” says Prof A Sachindra Babu, dean of the institute.

In the near future, the college plans to impart hands-on training to farmers and an incubation facility has been set up in the college campus. The aspiring entrepreneurs will be trained in all aspects — production, packaging, brand building and marketing.

(For further details, contact Mahesh Kumar G on 9341727772)