Beneficial and cost effective, says cooperative that introduced feed
a milk cooperative in Kolhapur district, Maharashtra, has bagged a patent on one of its products that cuts the cost of calf rearing by half. The cooperative, popularly called Gokul, after its brand of milk products, has launched two calf-rearing products: milk-replacer and calf starter. The group, Kolhapur Zilla Sahakari Dugdha Utpadak Sangh, is yet to apply for a patent for the calf starter.
Rearing calves is expensive, said R R Patil, animal husbandry head of Gokul. A calf in the first three months requires milk equivalent to around one-tenth of its body weight. For example, a 25-kg calf would need 2.5 litres of milk everyday for proper growth. Monetarily, this means spending about Rs 50 every day on milk alone.
"Since 2001, milk collection at the cooperative had stagnated. Because of the expenses, farmers sold calves early, at a loss.The mortality of calves was also high."
After trying out ways and means to save their trade, the cooperative zeroed in on a feed prepared from the extracts of grains, soybean and pulses. This they called the milk replacer. "It proved palatable, digestible and aided in growth of calves and reduced cost of calf feed substantially," said Patil. The cooperative later introduced the calf starter, a feed additive with high fibre, which matures the calf's rumen faster so that it can switch from milk to green fodder earlier.
Under the new feeding regimen, a calf is fed on milk for 10 days, after which 50 gm each of milk-replacer and calf starter are introduced in the diet. By the fourth week, milk consumption of the calf is reduced to 1.5 litre everyday and 250 gm of green fodder is introduced. Consumption of milk-replacer also drops steeply by the eighth week while that of starter increases.
"When fed exclusively on milk, my calves would register a daily weight gain of around 250 gm, but now the gain is about 400 gm more. And they are healthier too," Sagar Killedar, a dairy farmer said. Since 2006, he has raised six calves to maturity, something he had never done in his 15 years as a dairy farmer.
The cooperative is selling the two products, under the brand Mahalakshmi, to farmers at Rs 40 per kg. This is highly economical, compared to imported milk replacers available in the market at Rs 120 or more per kg, said Patil. It is right now meant to help the cooperative members. A decision on whether to market the products large scale would be taken later, he added.
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