The experiences of an exchange visitor

mardi 31 janvier 2012

The Confederation of Kisan Organisations (CKO) in India together with Agriterra arranged an exchange visit to the Netherlands to learn from Dutch agribusiness in the field of dairy farming and artificial insemination. Six members of CKO (four men and two women) visited several dairy companies, cooperatives and an international enterprise in the field of cattle improvement. Mrs Kommala Ramana was part of the CKO delegation and shares her experiences of the visit with us.

Mrs Kommala Ramana is member of the executive committee of CKO.  She is also president of the Adarsha Mahila Rythu Club, Kalwala which is affiliated to the CKO. She wants to share her new knowledge with other rural woman farmers in her country. About the exchange visit she writes:

Though the trip lasted only for seven days, it gave a lot of enlightment in the fields of the Dutch dairy system, silage system, IRIS, I&R, dairy management, milking robots etc. I acquired sufficient knowledge with regard to the management of dairy farms and how to run them profitably. 

It is too early to say that the purpose of the visit has been fully served. But I am confident that the very purpose of the visit with the sole aim of getting acquainted with the various scientific methods that are widely in use across the country, has been primarily served. Now I am determined to put all these practices into action at my native village with active financial support as well as moral boosting from the both CKO and Agriterra.

Mr Theo van den Berg (CRV, enterprise in cattle improvement) was our host during the visit. When visiting the CRV headquarters in Arnhem the big statue of Sunny Boy caught my attention. I tried to know the history of this big bull. I was astonished to learn that this bull produced 23 lakh (a lakh is a unit in the South Asian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand) doses of semen and that he gave birth to 10 lakh baby cows by using it's semen through artificial insemination system.

We visited several farms, like the one of the Willemse family. The farmer told that he had 8 cows in the year 1956.  He had increased this number up to 28 just in a span of a decade and he now has over 120 cows for milk production. This shows his dedication and commitment to the dairy farm. He explained to us many things pertaining to the separation of cattle from cows, tag system and feeding system. In the milking parlour 16 cows could be milked at a time.

The next farm was a joint one of two farms, combined by marriage. All cattle are now in one farm. The farmer looks after the land and the cow farm. He started with 12 cows and his two robots are now milking 120 cows. The sight of milking robots was marvellous. The lady farmer takes care of the young calves and runs the other farm where no animals are housed. This farm has been rebuilt for conferences and leisure. She showed us the feeding with milk bottles and told us how to prepare warm milk replacers for the calves. Also she told us about her very busy life with 3 children to look after and all the labour required for the calves care and the conference / leisure premises care, but she enjoys it.

The next day we visited another dairy farmer, with as many as 120 cows.  We had elaborate discussions with him. He shared his views regarding the quality of a cow, which gives high quantity of milk a day. He stressed the need for construction of high sheds. This keeps the cows cool and with fresh air and light . It also contributes to the good health of a cow. 

The people of the Netherlands are famous for their cow breeding. There is low interest in buffalo breeding as it does not generate high income levels. The net financial return is low in comparison with cows. However, there are now 8 buffalo farms in the Netherlands.

We further visited  the museum of cattle breeding  and Qlip, a private company with for dairy quality improvement, where we learnt that  33% of the milk produced is consumed by the people of Netherlands and the rest is exported to other countries.
In short, we learnt a lot during our study trip to the Netherlands and will surely implement and exchange these lessons learned.