Sept. 27, 2024 : Global food nutrition giant – Nutricia International Private Limited (Danone) and BAIF Development Research Foundation announced a three-year programme to train about 5,000 smallholder dairy farmers from 100 villages of Ludhiana, Moga, Ferozpur, Faridkot, Barnala, Bhatinda, Sangrur and Mansa districts of Punjab through a network of 70 milk collection centres in Punjab. The farmer development programme will focus on animal health, manure management, livestock management and community engagement.
At the launching ceremony organised by Danone and BAIF in Chandigarh, Antoine de Saint-Affrique, CEO, Danone said, “India is an important growth market for Danone. We are committed to building inclusive growth for all our farming partners and local manufacturing. This programme is in line with Danone’s longstanding support for our local farmer communities in India. At Danone, we have always believed that we cannot succeed without our farmer partners and must work closely with them to create shared value.”
Vikram Agarwal, Chief Operations Officer, Danone, said, “We source specialised nutrition grade milk from over 5,000 small dairy farmers across 100 villages near our Lalru plant. Our partnership is about expansion through inclusive growth and will be pivotal in supporting our farmer partners improve both yields and livelihoods while increasing volumes of high-quality milk available for Danone as we continue to invest in increased capacity at the plant. Together, we are driving mutual growth for a brighter future”.
Dr. Bharat Kakade, President and Managing Trustee, BAIF, said, “We are happy to work with the farmers of Punjab to address major challenges in the Indian Dairy Sector such as low productivity of animals, poor quality milk production and shortage of fodder and in particular, green fodder. BAIF’s dairy development programme is in maximum number of districts in the country and during the year 2023-24, BAIF was able to reach out to 33,95,933 families from 99,452 villages in 343 districts of 13 states. BAIF will be bringing its OPU-IVF & ET technology and improved fodder varieties released by ICAR, to Punjab. BAIF’s past experience of working with the farmers of Punjab will help to provide need-based services to them. I am grateful to Danone leadership team for their trust in BAIF to improve the livelihood of farmers in Punjab”.
On this occasion, a MoU was signed between Dr. Kakade and Mr. Shashi Ranjan, Managing Director, Danone India in the presence of Antoine de Saint-Affrique, CEO, Danone, Mr. Vikram Agarwal, Chief Operations Officer, Christian Stammkoetter, President, Danone for Asia, Middle East and Africa and Mr. Arjun Bhowmick, Vice President, Operations, Danone for Asia, Middle East and Africa, Mr. V.B. Dyasa, BAIF Regional Director – North and Mr. Sandip Yadav, State Head, Uttarakhand.
