Bihar’s Dairy Cooperatives Perform Strongly on Payments and Development
Bihar’s cooperative dairy network, led by Comfed and its affiliated milk unions, transfers payments for procured milk directly into beneficiaries’ bank accounts. The system gives farmers clearer information about the payment process and limits reliance on intermediaries. Milk sales are a regular income source for many rural households, making the timing and transparency of procurement payments significant features of the system.
Mr Ashok said a review of the first phase of the Dairy Through Cooperatives project, supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, placed Bihar’s milk unions among the leading performers in India. The cooperatives recorded strong performance against targets covering milk procurement, marketing and processing infrastructure.
The DTC-JICA programme is intended to support cooperative-led dairy development and strengthen the dairy value chain. In Bihar, work under the programme has included upgrades to procurement arrangements and investments linked to marketing and processing. These facilities are used in the collection, transport and processing of milk, with infrastructure capacity becoming relevant as procurement volumes and participation in organised networks increase.
The cooperatives have also received recognition for efforts to improve animal productivity. The areas associated with that work include breeding, nutrition, veterinary care, animal-health management and technical assistance. The source said higher output per animal can allow producers to obtain more milk without a substantial expansion of herd numbers, a consideration for small and marginal farmers.
Speaking at the regional workshop in Patna, Mr Ashok identified trust and transparency as central to the long-term sustainability of dairy cooperatives. The cooperative structure links milk producers with collection societies, unions and processing organisations. Direct payments and transparent procedures for measuring, purchasing and paying for milk were presented as ways to reinforce farmers’ confidence in that structure.
Senior representatives from dairy federations and milk unions in Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh attended the workshop. It was organised under the central government’s National Dairy Development Programme as part of the DTC-JICA project and jointly hosted by the National Dairy Development Board and the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The event provided participating states with an opportunity to discuss cooperative approaches to dairy development and their experience with procurement, processing and market access.
