Agri bank officials hold key meet at dairy research institute in Karnal

The bimonthly structured meeting of district development managers of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Rajasthan was recently conducted at ICAR–National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI). The meeting was attended by 34 officials from NABARD Rajasthan, led by Rajiv Siwach, Chief General Manager (CGM). The officials were made aware about technologies in milk processing as well as climate resilience developed by the NDRI.

Dheer Singh, Director and Vice-Chancellor of NDRI, was the chief guest and highlighted the NDRI’s legacy and nationwide footprint.

Established in 1923 in Bengaluru and relocated to Karnal in 1955, the NDRI now operates through two regional stations and three service centres across India. Dheer Singh elaborated on the institute’s ongoing initiatives under the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP) in Rajasthan. These programmes aim to empower SC farmers by providing access to essential inputs and enhancing their capacity under the evolving challenges of climate change.

Singh highlighted the NDRI’s annual Kisan Mela facilitates the participation of farmers from across the country, including Rajasthan, with logistical support from NABARD. The mela features live demonstrations of NDRI’s cutting-edge technologies, offering farmers a hands-on experience of innovative dairy solutions. He urged NABARD to further promote these technologies through Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and progressive farmers to ensure wider dissemination. He specifically emphasised the importance of NDRI’s climate-resilient dairy technologies, which can help prevent milk losses of up to 500 ml per animal per day due to heat stress—an especially relevant innovation for climate-sensitive regions like Rajasthan.

Rajiv Siwach emphasised Rajasthan’s vast potential in livestock development, noting that the state ranks second in per capita milk availability after Punjab. He also spoke of persistent challenges, including low milk productivity, limited access to high-yielding breeds, harsh climatic conditions, fodder scarcity, and inadequate awareness of scientific dairy practices.

Gopal Sankhala, head of the Dairy Extension Division, highlighted the technologies, including the saliva scope technique for estrus detection in buffaloes, strip-based diagnostic kits for early mastitis detection, and anionic and cationic mineral mixture supplementation to prevent milk fever and Sub-Acute Ruminal Acidosis (SARA), respectively.

In an interactive session, DDMs shared district-level experiences, insights and successful interventions in dairy development. The session was attended by senior officials from NDRI, including AK Singh, Joint Director Academics, Rajan Sharma, Joint Director Research, and DN Yadav, Head of Division.

The NABARD delegation also visited key research and demonstration units at NDRI, including the Livestock Research Centre (LRC), Business Planning and Development (BPD) Unit, NICRA (National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture) site, and the Model Dairy Plant.

Both institutions reaffirmed their commitment to a collaborative, technology-driven, and farmer-centric approach for accelerating dairy development in Rajasthan.