The Dairy Development Project remains a key focus area of IsFon under its rural initiatives. It aims at
extending support to agricultural labourers and marginal farmer’s wives by providing them with a cow and
holistic support in dairy management to generate a regular secondary source of income.
Dairy Development objectives:
- To provide cows to the beneficiaries to help generate an additional source of income through sale of
milk and its by-products.
- To provide animal health care assistance by training them in hygienic ways of housekeeping of cattle
sheds and providing primary health treatment.
- To provide training in livestock rearing including feeding and milking the cows.
- To provide free vaccinations for the cows and new born calves.
- Training in development of fodder plots and cultivation of para, napier and azolla fodder.
- To help improve soil fertility and crop yield using cow dung which is a rich source of organic matter
and to gainfully utilise the surplus fodder to feed the animals
- To provide doorstep services of Artificial Insemination followed by pregnancy diagnosis, vaccinations
and primary treatment.
Since agriculture is mostly seasonal, the dairy project helps in generating a continuous alternative
source of income of Rs. 8,000 - Rs. 12,000 per month through sale of dairy and by-products for the
beneficiaries.
Due to a gradual increase in the population density in and around these areas there is a reassuring
steady increase in the demand and thereby sale of milk.
Selection Criteria
Participants are selected based on 3 criteria from among the rural population, in 41 villages:
- small and marginal farmer family or a land-less family
- families that own land less than or equal to 2.0 acres
- families where the Cow is given in the name of women only
Dairy Development includes
- Selection of aspirants
- Capacity building
- Cow purchase
- Breeding
- Animal health care
- Vaccination
- Deworming
- First aid
- Infertility treatment
- Nutritional feed supplement
- Fodder cultivation
Crossbreed cow with aspirant Mr. & Mrs. Supriya Sunil Khane & family
from Mhalungi
Village
Calf growth measurement external visitor
External visitor
Project Highlights
- Distributions of crossbreed cows
- Income raised by Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 12,000 per month, through sale of milk
- Dairy Management training for all beneficiaries
- Vaccination of cows and calves
- Development of fodder plots
- Doorstep Artificial Insemination made available
Fodder plot of Ms. Vaishali Deepak Patil, Karavale Village, District Raigad
Calf Rally, Pale Khurd
