INDIA – Solidaridad, an international civil society organization, has launched a traceability feature for the dairy sector under the Trust Dairy project, in Maharashtra, in partnership with Nutreco, Govind Milk and Milk Products Pvt. Ltd. and Agricultural Development Trust Baramati.
Several eminent representatives from the public and private sectors were present at the launch event.
The dignitaries spoke on a range of topics around sustainable dairy farming, including enhancing dairy animal productivity and traceability and the need and relevance of sustainable dairy farms in India, among others.
Bringing traceability to the dairy sector could be a herculean task, yet it seems increasingly imperative to introduce innovation in this sector, especially with growing concerns around quality and sustainability.
“Post Covid, consumers have become more concerned about the quality and source of the food they consume. The traceability initiative will provide a level of transparency and assurance on quality among the consumers and connection with the farmers and the factories.
“We look forward to explore how we can collaborate to work on this together with Solidaridad,” said Mr. Michiel van Erkel, Agriculture Counsellor for India and Sri Lanka.
The feature will bring increased visibility and transparency in the dairy supply chain by capturing quality and sustainability practices adopted by the processor and the producer. The information will be available to consumers who will access it by scanning a QR code.
“This mechanism of QR code scanning will connect the consumers to farmers and their sustainable practices and thus, the farmers will get a platform for recognition. We at our department look forward to associate with projects like this that benefit farmers,” said Dr. Dhanajay Parkale, Additional Commissioner, Dairy and Animal Husbandry, Government of Maharashtra.
The Trust Dairy project is chiefly focused on increasing productivity with fewer cattle to reduce emissions from milk production, improving manure and feed management to reduce GHG emissions and bringing traceability to the dairy sector.
“This pilot project will provide our consumers a platform to connect with us and see how we take care of quality at our plant and how we engage farmers with us. In the future, we would look forward to upscale this pilot traceability initiative based on the availability of resources,” said Mr. Dharmendra Bhalla, CEO, Govind Milk and Milk Products Pvt. Ltd.
Mr. Shrimant SanjivRaje Naik Nimbalkar, Chairman, Govind Milk and Milk Products Limited, noted that through the project, their consumers will be able to see what kind of practices they are adopting to ensure quality.
They will also be able to see how well connected they are to their farmers who are the source of consumers’ milk.
“We look forward to upscale this project to ensure more transparency,” he said.
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