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Operation Flood and dairy cooperatives became India’s greatest rural employment programme, enabling the modernization of the dairy industry to a point from where it may take off to fulfill the need for milk and milk products within the nation as well as chances on the international market. An unorganized sector handles 80% of the milk a rural producer produces, and an organized sector handles the remaining 20%. It has been discovered that dairy cooperatives significantly contribute to reducing rural poverty by increasing rural milk production and marketing.

Letting the cow to release its milk so the dairy farmer can extract it for personal use or to sell is the procedure of milking. Consequently, it is not totally a natural process. The natural process must be manipulated by the dairy farmer to his advantage. Therefore, in order to control the natural process, one must first understand it. The process of producing milk from blood-derived basic materials by alveolar cells and storing it in the alveolar cavity is known as milk secretion. Only when the alveolar cavity is full and the pressure on the alveolar cells prevents further secretion does this continuous process come to an end.

Animals need to function efficiently during reproduction in order for a dairy production system to be sustainable. This is necessary to produce milk, the primary product of interest, as well as to supply replacement animals. From the perspective of reproduction, delayed puberty, lengthy calving intervals, limited productive lives, and high calf mortality are the key variables that cause economic losses. Reproductive management’s proportionate contribution to the effectiveness of dairy production systems varies greatly.

Dairy farmers hope to have better milking cows than those in their current herds. A solid foundation is necessary for every farming operation. Undoubtedly, the dairy farm documentation system is among the most important facets of farm management. Tracking each cow’s productivity within a herd and assisting breed development generally are the major objectives of a dairy farm tracking system. This information could be referred to as production data.

By minimizing the harsh climate effects like heat, cold and rain, it is crucial to offer the proper circumstances for raising dairy cows in the tropics. Stress can be reduced through the design of the farm and the dwelling. Controlling the environment lowers the risk of stress and disease, improves management, and increases milk production.

Dietary fat, which is not degraded in upper part of digestive tract (rumen) of animal, but gets digested in lower alimentary tract is known as bypass fat. Rumen protected fat is another name for this bypass fat. Immediately following calving, dairy animals lose a significant amount of energy through milk, although their feed intake is decreased. Animals continue to have negative energy balances as a result.

For the purpose of passing into the lower gastrointestinal tract and supplying the cow with vital amino acids, dairy bypass protein (UDP – undegraded protein) is a type of animal or plant-based protein that resists breakdown in the rumen. More metabolizable protein is made available by avoiding the rumen, assisting the cow in meeting her needs for amino acids for milk production and its constituent parts.

In terms of their contribution to human nutrition, the dairy industry is very important. Since dairy farming has the ability to offer meaningful selfemployment and stable income, it is a dependable source of subsistence for the rural poor. Additionally, it requires less labour and cash to maintain. Dairy cattle feeding directly affect the animals’ ability to reproduce and produce. Therefore, the addition of a mineral mixture is necessary to maximize the animal’s productivity and milk output.

The proper supply of feed and fodder is a requirement for the growth and development of the animals. Over the past few decades, there has been a considerable growth in milk production, with India now producing the most milk in the world (187.7 million tones in 2018–19). The main causes of India’s low milk yield are extrinsic (poor nutrition/feed management) as well as intrinsic (low genetic potential).

Herd management practices in the handling, nutrition, milking techniques, sanitation, and housing of dairy animals play key roles in predisposing the individual animal as well as herds to diseases. The key factor influencing the reduction of health issues are the decisions made by herd managers or animal owners.In order to maximize output and profitability through disease control, herd management approaches in conjunction with a veterinarian programme can be most beneficial.

Dairy farmers are faced with a number of fundamental inquiries. The first inquires as to what dairy animal he needs to keep. Is the breed with the best production performance the one that has adapted to the local environment the most? What animal is the best, asks the second? Is it the one with a showwinning conformation or the one with a strong ancestry? Is the ideal dairy cow one that produces the most milk, has the best feet, legs, and udder support, or combines the performance of these characteristics in the best possible way?

India is home to an enormous number of buffalo. According to the 20th Livestock Census, more than 109 million buffaloes, or more than 56% of the world’s population, are living in India. With 20 recognized breeds, it also has a very diverse collection of buffalo genetics. One of the most well-known buffalo breeds in the world, the Murrah, is also found in India. The buffalo is a versatile animal that can be used for milk, meat, and draught. India is the world leader in this industry, producing 76% of the world’s buffalo milk.

The world’s greatest source of cow and buffalo diversity is India, and countries like Australia, South Africa, Latin America, and the USA employ Indian cattle breeds to grow their livestock industries. The number of cattle in the nation represents 17% of all cattle in the world. 22-25% of the Indian cow population is made up of the best native milk, draught, and dual-purpose animal genetics. The majority of local cattle breeds are excellent drafters. Native livestock breeds are clearly superior in their use of subpar feed, have better heat tolerance, and greater resistance to tropical diseases.

In India, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOH&FW), dealing with the subject of food quality and safety at the national level, has been designated the nodal ministry for maintaining food standards. The instrument for ensuring food quality and safety at the national level is through a legislation titled Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 (PFA) and Rules made there under as amended from time-to-time.

All across the world, the dairy industry is facing numerous problems and changes. Dairy development has received a considerable boost from factors including access to technical advancements, improvements in infrastructural facilities, and the development of modern marketing insights. It is interesting to see how the dairy sector is changing globally.

India has an enormous wealth of cattle, which is crucial to the development of the socioeconomic status of millions of rural households as well as the country’s economy. In addition to giving millions of people access to lowcost nutritious food, this industry plays a significant role in boosting family incomes and creating gainful employment in rural areas, notably among landless laborers, small and marginal farmers, and women.

The world’s largest population of milch cattle lives in India. In 2020, there were almost 906 million tones of milk produced worldwide, with India being the top producer with a 22 percent share. Annual Growth Rate of milk production in 2019-20 in India was 5.69 per cent. Highest growth rate in milk production was found to be 14.31 per cent in Karnataka. In 2021, the Indian dairy market had a value of INR 13,174 billion.

The oxygen content may be measured either chemically or electronically. The normal chemical method is the so-called Winkler method which is a titration method, consisting of adding certain chemicals to the water and observing a colour change which will be directly related to the oxygen concentration.

Material handling includes a number of operations that can be executed either by hand (manual) or by mechanical means or devices to convey material and to reduce the human drudgery.

The most common types of mechanical devices for grain handling are;

Harvesting is a complex operation that can be divided into three major parts, as follows:

Driving and concentrating the fish stock to the catch basin;

Lifting the fish out of the catch basin and placing them on a sorting table;

Sorting the fish and loading them on the transporting vehicle.

Filtration may be defined as the separation of a mixture or solution into component parts. The resulting components may be pure or may be solutions or mixtures. In water/wastewater treatment filtration technique is used for removing suspended solids, dissolved solids and organic matter.

The feeding is an important operation in aquaculture, it is the process of providing nutritious supplements or live feeds to the culture animal. The equipment used for this purpose is named as feeders. Equipment that is connected with fish feeding can be divided into three major groups, as follows

Aeration is the addition of oxygen or air containing oxygen to water. Any aquatic species important for commercial purpose requires oxygen. Even photosynthetic plants need oxygen when it is dark.

2.1 Need of aeration

Rise in atmospheric temperature causes increased rate of biological degradation of organic matters and subsequent depletion in dissolved O₂ concentration in water.

Pump is a mechanical device to increase the pressure energy of fluid. Aquacultural enterprises often find it necessary to move fluid against an energy gradient. Most commo n may be filling or emptying of tanks. For performing an assigned job, the best selection of pumps should be such that it should work at its peak efficiency. Unfortunately, there is only one head and discharge condition for each pump where the peak efficiency is obtained and therefore, it is rarely possible to achieve the highest efficiency for a pumping condition. Manufacturers cannot design and build so many varieties of pumps to meet all operating conditions. They have therefore, settled upon some standard designs which are generally required for most of the head and discharge conditions.

Agriculture is a fundamental human activity that depends intrinsically on natural processes, including soil fertility, water recycling, and pollination, and both nature and agriculture are increasingly suffering the negative impacts of climate change (EEA, 2019). At the same time, unsustainable agriculture also poses a major threat to biodiversity (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2014), negatively affects the state of our soil and water, and is an important contributor to climate change (Jia et al., 2019).

Climate change is a long-lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather pattern triggered by greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. It is caused by natural factors like continental drift, volcanoes, earth’s tilt, and ocean current or manmade factors like urbanization, industrialization, burning of fossil fuel, deforestation and faulty agricultural practices.

Conservation Agriculture Conservation agriculture is an approach to managing agro-ecosystems, for improved and sustained productivity, increased profits and food security while preserving and enhancing the resource base and the environment. It is a set of technologies, including minimum disturbance, permanent soil cover, diversified crop rotations, and integrated weed management (Reicosky and Saxena, 2007; Hobbs et al., 2008, Friedrich et al., 2012).

Food security is achieved when adequate food is available and accessible and satisfactorily used and utilized by all individuals to live a healthy and active life. But food and nutrition security is achieved when people have physical, economic and social access to food of sufficient quantity in terms of variety, diversity, nutrient content and safety to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy and active life coupled with sanitary environment, adequate health and education care. In order to achieve food and nutrition security there is a need for transitioning toward nutrition sensitive food system.

Natural resources are naturally occurring resources which can be exploited for economic gain. They include raw materials such as fuels, minerals and metals, soil, water, air, sunlight, land, biomass and ecosystems. Natural resources also include living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) materials. Natural resources are gifts of nature for the humankind.

Farming system is a complex inter-related matrix of soil, plants, animals, implements, power, labour, capital and other inputs controlled in part by farm families and influenced by varying degrees of political, economic, institutional and social forces that operate at many levels. In farming system there is integration of farm enterprises such as cropping systems, animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry, sericulture, poultry etc.

Insects and mites that damage crops, pathogens that cause diseases in plants, weeds that compete with field crops for nutrients and water, plants that choke irrigation channels or drainage systems, rodents that eat young plants and grain, and birds that eat seedlings or stored foodstuffs are all crop pests. As plants were domesticated and grown, increasingly in monoculture, the potential damage caused by their co-evolved pests and disease pathogens were realised.

Soil, climate and water decide the nature of crop to be grown in a particular region. While soil and climate can be manipulated to certain extent, there is no substitute of water. Water is governed by the hydrological cycle. The major source of water is rainfall which has been reduced over the years due to climate change. The per capita water availability in India was 4944 m3 in 1955 which has been reduced to 1750 m³ now and is expected to come down to 1500 m³ by 2025.

Soil is made up of minerals, organic matter, gases, liquids and micro-organisms in different proportions. It provides anchorage to plants. It is important for life as it provides the medium for the growth of a plant, habitat for several insects and other organisms. Soil is a store house of nutrients, micro-organisms, air and water. It is the source of four essential ‘living’ factors including food, clothes, shelter, and medicines.

Alternative agriculture is a production system that follows the concept of agroecology and does not use conventional methods. Natural farming, Bio-dynamic farming, Organic farming, Permaculture, Homa farming and many others are considered as alternative agriculture. In spite of some differences, these practices aim at preserving the environment and minimise the use or avoid synthetic agrochemicals. They rely on natural cycles, by using crop rotations, cover crops or no-tillage, etc.

Modern farming system was aimed to maximise crop production by use of high yielding crop varieties or hybrids and application of agro-chemicals like fertilisers and pesticides along with irrigation and better crop production technologies. But without consideration of its impact on the environment and economics of the farmers, the monoculture of rice and wheat with agro-chemicals caused land degradation, soil and water contamination, gene erosion and environmental pollution.

Agriculture depends mainly on natural resources like land situation, soil, water and a favourable climate. Continuous agricultural practices adopted without conservation of such precious resources may lead to unsustainability of growth in agriculture. Conservation of these resources and their sustainable use with appropriate measures would be required for a sustainable agriculture.

The market research process is equally critical to rural marketing as to urban marketing because of two main reasons:

• The marketer has a limited understanding of the rural/urban consumer
• The marketer who is urban-oriented may need to find different ways to understand the decision variables in the urban market.

The communication which is the core of the Communication Mix plays an important role in promoting the product to the outside world and especially to the target market. In the marketing of rural products, application of latest, innovative and enhanced technologies is crucial for effective communication with urban consumers. This also helps in conveying the features of rural products. The adoption of the latest technologies ensures the economic well-being of the rural marketers by increasing the reach of the products and in creating awareness about the product. The technology helps in faster dissemination of the rural product information to the consumer.

There are many distribution networks which an organization may use depending upon the nature and usage of the product. Generally, there are two types of distribution networks which are being widely used the first is direct selling to the customer and the second is to have intermediaries in between which ensures that the product is available to the final consumer. In this indirect method the company is not in direct touch with the customer and this gap is filled by the middleman. The middleman not only provides the product to the customer but he also provides continuous feedback to the organization about the product and market demands. 

A marketing strategy of a business is the game plan of an organization for approaching its target market effectively. Marketing strategy is also used to target the prospective customer and converting them into loyal consumers for the brand and services being offered by the companies.

A marketing strategy is the building block of a marketing plan and consists of the value which the company wants to offer, its key message which the company wants to convey to the target market and other elements which are key in the area of marketing.

India is known for its heritage and diaspora has 6,40,867 villages with a population of aprox 120 crore people which is about 66.46 % of the population. The villages in India have always remained neglected and never tried to market their products to urban consumers. But the rise in incomes of the Indian urban consumers and the increased awareness due to technological advancement it leads to the growth of the Indian consumer market which became attractive for the Indian as well as foreign companies. The efforts by Indian Government for rural products contributed to the development of rural products and their marketing. 

Agriculture marketing and Rural marketing are two words used interchangeably by the people at large with the study of agriculture and management discipline. India is known to the world for its agricultural growth through the green revolution. India is an agriculture-based and oriented economy with approximately six and a half lakh villages predominantly involved in agricultural and agri-based activities. Rural India is termed as the backbone of the Indian economy and it contributes significantly to the economy and to its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in terms of providing food grains (Cereals and Pulses), vegetables, and fruits which are essential ingredients for human life.

Cloud-based software is used for the management of financial and field activities of farms. Prior to computers, farmers maintained data manually by keeping lengthy records on papers. This method was prone to human calculation errors. After the computer boom in the 1980s, it was not long before finance software such as Money Counts came to market. 

Smart Farming is a hi-tech and effective system of doing agriculture and growing food in a sustainable way. It is an application of implementing connected devices and innovative technologies together into agriculture. Smart Farming majorly depends on IoT thus eliminating the need of physical work of farmers and growers and thus increasing the productivity in every possible manner.

With the recent agriculture trends dependent on agriculture, Internet of Things has brought huge benefits like efficient use of water, optimization of inputs and many more. 

Since the industrial revolution in the 1800s, automation got more advanced to efficiently handle sophisticated tasks and increase production. With increasing demands and shortage of labor across the globe, agriculture robots or commonly known as Agribots are starting to gain attention among farmers. Crop production decreased by an estimated 213 crores approx ($3.1 billion) a year due to labor shortages in the USA alone. Recent advancements in sensors and AI technology that lets machines train on their surroundings have made agrobots more notable. We are still in the early stages of an ag-robotics revolution, harnessing the full potential of the Internet of Things in agriculture, with most of the products still in early trial phases and R&D mode.

Easykrishi is a young enterprise that uses digital interventions with an aim to change agricultural practices from Reactive Mode to Proactive Mode. It is a consortium of 12 FPOs and 150 Ground Organizations. 14 In a world of declining land-holdings, we realize aggregation of agricultural resources is the only way to keep this planet sustainable for human survival. Aggregation ensures viability and profitability of Agriculture. Easykrishi’s baby steps in the entire cycle of aggregation of agricultural resources have made significant impact for Food Producer Corporations across Karnataka and they have made a mark on organizations and individuals that are dedicated for the betterment of Agriculture and farmers.

The goal of sustainable agriculture is to meet society’s food and textile needs in the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Practitioners of sustainable agriculture seek to integrate three main objectives into their work: a healthy environment, economic profitability, and social and economic equity. Every person involved in the food system—growers, food processors, distributors, retailers, consumers, and waste managers—can play a role in ensuring a sustainable agricultural system.

Although “e-agriculture” and other initiatives to bridge the rural digital divide were already underway around the world, the Community (and the term “e-agriculture”) emerged following the World Summits on the Information Society in 2003 and 2005. The WSIS global participants recognized that when addressing the challenges of the digital divide, particularly in the context of rural livelihoods, problems extend beyond technology. It is a multifaceted problem characterized by ineffective knowledge exchange and information content management, as well as a lack of human resources, institutional capacity, and sensitivity to gender and the diverse needs of various groups. With WSIS participants identifying and naming “e-agriculture” as a key action line to address the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was tasked with leading the development and subsequent facilitation activities that would truly engage stakeholders at all levels.