The Ledger
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Kumar: Most milk in India exceeds regulatory aflatoxin limits
“There is a food safety standards, ok, guideline on what is the limit of aflatoxin. Most of the milk in the country is above, ok, that limit.”
Kumar: Human lactase enzyme production can be easily revived
“By design, we have a lactase enzyme. Ok, it can be revived. Ok, it can be easily revived.”
Kumar: Government subsidies make Indian farming more economically unviable
“I believe, ok That is making farmer more, farming more unviable.”
Kumar: Forward contracts with Indian farmers cannot be enforced
“In India, you can't sign a forward contract with farmer and get it honoured. It is not possible.”
Kumar: Soil organic carbon across Indian farmlands is under 1%
“All the lands in India today, soil organic carbon is less than one percent.”
Kumar: Pilot demonstrations could have eliminated stubble burning across India
“Ensure these 300 villages will never ever burn stubble, and prove that giving the stubble back to the soil has a positive impact on overall farming. Everybody would have adopted in the last 10 years.”
Kumar: Indian Dairy Farmers Appear Profitable Only by Ignoring Unpaid Family Labor
“Dairy farmer in India never makes money. It's a cash flow system for him. He thinks he's making money because it doesn't count his labor. It doesn't count his son's labor. It doesn't count his wife's labor. That's the problem.”
Kumar: Dairy antibiotic residues drive human antibiotic resistance in India
“We treat animals with antibiotics. Antibiotics come out in milk. That we drink. Then it makes us antibiotic resistant. Fundamental problem. Siddharth Ahluwalia: So this is also contributing to our antibiotic resistance. Shashi Kumar: Yes. One of the biggest co…”
Kumar: Indian government promotes non-farm jobs because agriculture is unviable
“I never seen a program coming to my village and saying, you're doing farming, let us do better, do farming. Because government also understands farming, okay, is not viable. So we need to give, okay, something else for people to earn, okay. This government's m…”
Kumar: External Input Dependency Causes Farming Non-Viability
“It is extremely dependent on external inputs today. Without an external input, you can't do farming. That is the root cause of the entire non-viability of farming.”
Kumar: Planting trees removes the need to build dams
“We development workers see tree as a, no need to build dams in our opinion. Keep planting trees.”
Kumar: India lacks a culture of hands-on agricultural field extension
“Extension means a farmer outreach program where we, a technology expert or a farming expert going into farmer field and working. It doesn't, that culture doesn't exist in India.”
Shashi Kumar: Cab drivers only profit from vehicle resale after paying EMIs
“End of the day, when you buy a cab, What is left after paying EMIs at the end of this one, but after five years if you pay, the cab if you sell, whatever money makes, that's what is the money he makes.”
Kumar: Indian dairy farmers do not inject cows with oxytocin for milk
“Technically, ok, if you really look at in Indian dairy industry in general, so nobody is going to inject an oxytocin to cow to produce more milk. No farmer is doing it. That's the fact.”
Kumar: Half of Akshayakalpa's operating villages lack residents under 45
“At least most of the villages where we work, 50% of the villages doesn't have a population below 45 years of age.”
Kumar: Agricultural extension is the government's job, not companies'
“All the work what we have done is actually the government's job. What I call as an extension outreach program. Government should not support us. They should do their job. Providing services to farmers.”
Kumar: Dairy is the cheapest protein source known to humans
“Dairy is the cheapest source of protein known to human. It's the cheapest.”
Kumar: Cow milk protein profile is 50% better than plant milk
“Protein profile is 50% better than the almond milk or oat milk.”
Kumar: Urban migration offers a predictable income that farming does not
“But definitely better than farming. At least you can see some monthly income. Farming, that is also not guaranteed.”
Kumar: Most milk in India is produced by buffaloes, not cows
“See, most milk in India is produced by buffalos. It's not by cows.”
Kumar: Akshayakalpa procured zero milk in Chengalpattu over four years
“Second cluster in Changalputu district of Tamil Nadu, we started in August, 2019. Ok, this is the four years of work now, so far. In four years, we have not even procured a litre of milk there.”
Kumar: About 2% of India's farmland is currently under organic cultivation
“Around two percent of other countries under organic cultivation right now. There are various statistics. Some statistics do say it's around five percent to eight percent. Some statistics say it is two percent, but I tend to believe the two percent part of it.”
Kumar: Akshayakalpa partner farms reach 3.5% soil organic carbon
“We have pushed soil organic carbon in our farms to 3.5%.”
Kumar: Akshayakalpa partner farms average 2,000 integrated trees each
“Each farm, at an average, have integrated 2000 trees in hedges and bunds.”
Kumar: Israeli, US, and UK cows yield 8,000–12,000 kg per lactation
“If you take Israel, they do 12,000 kgs in three not five days per cow. US does 10,000 kgs. UK does 8000 kgs.”