Transforming Tribal Livelihoods

Sustainable Dairy Farming and Value Addition: A KVK-Sgr Success Story from Faquir Gujri” 

Ms. Shameema a resident of Village Faqir Gujri, block Harwan of district Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, holds secondary school qualification from HSS Harwan. Her interest in dairy farming and value addition of milk led her towards the establishment of a mini-commercial dairy unit generated employment to dozens of tribal people besides contributed to healthy lifestyle. The practical training at a small-scale dairy farming and value addition has influenced her career to large extent besides involving other tribal people in same profession; as a result, it has become a life line for sustainability of tribal people of village Faquir-Gujri. Ms. Shameema initially worked as a farm woman working in own kitchen garden with one cow to meet her domestic needs; however, her passion for dairy rearing prompted her to shift to dairy farming and value addition of milk products to support the sustainability of tribal community. With a strong technical and decision support system from Krishi Vigyan Kendra Srinagar and financial support from family and friends, initiated her Dairy farming on 2.7 kanals of land to generate livelihood opportunities to meet her domestic needs.

During first five years of incubation, she has gained own sustainability; however, after getting consistent expert advises from Srinagar and subsequently facilitated her registration on HADP portal under project number 23 entitled “strengthen the dairy sector in UT of J & K” to establish her commercial and sustainable dairy unit.  she extended the enterprise to next level to improve the well-being of tribal people as well; therefore, improved the dairy business with five cow unit of size 20 X 30 ft and developed a well-established unit with a 9 potent high breed productive cows. Ms. Shameema achieved monthly production of 13.5 quintals of milk, with an annual gross return of 1329604 rupees, accounting net return of 738676 rupees with B/C ratio of 1.2500. She further enhanced the sustainability and profitability for her community and family through value addition, especially included the preparation of Desi paneer and ghee.

During 2025, Ms. Shameema registered the enterprise under the brand name THE TRIBALS DAIRY with Registration No: 21025411000160 incorporated and licensed on 7th March 2025, under FSSAI Act 2006, J & K-India.

Name Ms. Shameema
Address	Village-Faqir Gujri, Dard Khower, Harwan Srinagar
Mobile Number:	990677072
Age:	56
Education	12th
Size of land holding:	0.5 ha.
Name of enterprise:	THE TRIBALS DAIRY

 

KVK Intervention

KVK Srinagar provided continuous technical guidance and capacity building to Ms. Shameema through specialized trainings, advisory services and monitoring her unit at regular intervals. This intervention strengthened her skills in scientific Dairy farming, and value addition including fodder cultivation, packaging and preservation, maintaining milk and by product hygiene and disease management in farm animals, Value addition of milk and milk products, processing, quality packaging, labelling, and basic food safety standards were strictly followed as suggested. The technical support from KVK enabled her to diversify the business into value-added products to fetch more income from market. The consistent and regular technical backstopping by KVK experts helped her scale up from a small unit to a commercial-level enterprise, transforming her from a job seeker into a job creator in tribal community of village Fakir-Gujri.

Innovation/ Initiative.

Ms. Shameema has adopted an integrated and innovative approach by managing the complete Dairy farm value chain, from fodder cultivation, preparation and post-harvest storage to milk production, value addition, processing and packaging. She manages fodder using locally available crops, farm residues, following the scientific fodder growing methods and package of practices. She maintains proper production and fodder conservation practices for year-round food and feed availability. The Surplus green fodder is converted into silage. For desi ghee preparation Ms. Shameema employed standardized ghee boiler machine, ghee filling machine, ghee making machine, glass jars, spoon, labels and hygienic, moisture-proof packaging to ensure quality, safety, and consumer appeal. With FSSAI certification and a strong focus on quality processing, attractive packaging, and e-commerce readiness, her initiative represents a model of modern Agri-preneurship and inspires tribal youth to adopt Dairy processing as a sustainable enterprise.

Socio-Economic Impact.

When Ms. Shameema started her dairy enterprise in 2020, her annual gross income was ₹0.68 lakh with a net return of about ₹0.61 lakh. With the systematic expansion of her dairy unit—particularly through an increase in the number of animals, efficient utilization of available space, enhanced milk supply to the market, value addition, and adoption of scientific dairy management practices—the enterprise has shown consistent year-on-year growth. By 2025, with support in value-added processing, standardized packaging, and market linkage including e-commerce platforms, her annual gross income increased to ₹13.29 lakh with a net income of approximately ₹7.38 lakh. Correspondingly, the Benefit–Cost (B:C) ratio improved significantly from 0.86 to 1.25, indicating enhanced economic efficiency and profitability of the enterprise.

At present, the livestock dairy unit comprising 9 cows produces about 6.0 liters of milk per animal per day, resulting in an annual milk production of 19,440 liters. The income generated from the sale of milk at ₹35 per liter amounts to ₹2,77,200 annually. Additional income through value-added milk by-products, particularly ghee (@ ₹1,500/kg), accounts for ₹7,83,000. Further income streams include the sale of farmyard manure (1,053 Quintals @ ₹250 per Quintal) generating ₹1,57,950, and the sale of four one-year-old calves yielding ₹80,000. Thus, the total annual income from the dairy enterprise stands at ₹12,98,150.

The total annual expenditure incurred includes ₹2,70,000 towards feed (@ ₹2,500 per animal per month), ₹54,000 on veterinary medicines and vaccines, and ₹1,80,000 towards labour charges, amounting to a total expenditure of ₹5,04,000. This results in a B:C ratio of 2.58, reflecting strong financial viability.

Brief Impact:
Earlier, Ms. Shameema was earning an annual income of ₹5,38,676 from her dairy unit but faced challenges such as stagnant yield, low milk production, and poor animal health. These issues were regularly addressed through technical guidance provided by KVK experts. With focused interventions under the Dairy Farming Initiative (DFI), including artificial insemination using high-quality semen, scientific health management, balanced feeding practices, and training on milk value addition, her annual income has increased substantially to ₹12,98,150, leading to improved livelihood security and socio-economic empowerment.

 

Components	Milk Production /day (Liters)	Annual Milk production (Liters)	Annual gross Income (Rs.)	Annual net Income (Rs.)
Livestock Dairy (9 cow unit)	6.0	19440.00	-	7,94,150
Income from sale of Milk @ Rs 35/litre	-	7920.0	277200.00
Income from Milk By-products (Ghee) @Rs 1500/kg	-	522	783000
Income from Sale of FYM @Rs 250/Quintal	-	1053 quintals	157950.00
Sale of 1 year old calves @ 20000per calf	4 no.		80,000
Total Income			12,98,150
Expenditure on feed	@ 2500 per animal per month		2,70,000
Expenditure on veterinary medicine and vaccines etc.	@500per animal per month		54000
Labour	@Rs 15000/month		1,80,000
Total Expenditure			5,04,000
B: C ratio				2.58

Brief:  Ms. Shameema used to get an annual income of Rs. 5,38,676.00 from her dairy unit. She faced problems like stagnant yield, low milk production and poor cow health, which were frequently resolved by KVK experts. With DFI interventions like inseminating cow with   high quality semen, proper health care of animals and good quality feed, training on value addition of milk, she is getting annual income of Rs 12,98,150.00

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