Waste recycling is a much celebrated topic in today’s day and age. But recycling food waste to make cattle feed is quite a new concept. To think about it, in the urban areas, it is a common sight to see cattle feeding on waste. Talking to Mr. Nikhil Bohra, it feels that the cattle in the urban has, perhaps, always been indicating quite something.
Talking to Mr. Nikhil Bohra instills hope and excitement. We wish him all the best!
Mr Nikhil, can you give us a brief introduction about yourself?
Sure. We are a dairy input start up. We are working on different kinds of food residue, and food waste to transform them into nutritional low cost cattle feed. We are based out of Jodhpur, Rajasthan and we have started a small food recycling unit in Bangalore as well. We are treating various kinds of food waste and food residue from different industries from Bangalore and Kolar and making cattle feed. You may be familiar that the milk prices are almost stagnant. They don’t increase at the pace at which the prices of feed input increase. For example, in the past one decade the milk prices have increased by 30-40% at the max. But, the cost of feed inputs have almost doubled. So, farmers purchasing feed at an increasing rate when there is no balanced increase in remuneration with the sale of the milk, it leads to much stress. This either leads to decreased feeding of cattle or it is a loss. Many times, these conditions lead to adulteration; for example, adding water/urea to milk, etc. All this happens fundamentally because the cost of feed is on the rise. This is the problem that we are targeting. We are trying to use more natural waste or residue which can be used as cattle feed. That has been our premise and since we are using these recycled residue we are able to match our price to the cooperative prices, which is the lowest in the market. We have four different variants of cattle feed depending on the productivity of the cattle. We are also getting into specialized feeds like calf starter or mineral mixtures etc. Apart from this, we have also started small pilots for poultry and fish feeds. We aim to launch the poultry and fish feeds by the start of next year – January 2020. This is a gist of what we do. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Is this a first-time attempt or has it been done by somebody already?
I wouldn’t say this is rocket science at any level. It has been done in bits and pieces. There are small farmers who when they are not able to sell some of their produce, feed it to their cattle. Whenever you feed cows with such feed like potatoes, carrots tomatoes etc. the quality of milk goes high.
Of course, it is not a new principle altogether that we have developed. It has been done in pieces but nobody has done it in the mainstream cattle feed business. If you see the totality of the business, it is a huge market and if we have to change any of the substituents or raw material, it has to be done in 1000s of tons. Even when I talk about food waste and agricultural waste, we don’t have a lot of things established – the supply chains are non-existent. We see ourselves as the pioneers who are working on this whole value chain where we are putting up supply chains of these kinds of raw materials at a larger scale wherein we could supply this across a few states in India to start with and gradually cover the whole nation.
Where are your production units located? Is the produce certified?
We have just started this venture in Bangalore. We have not commenced selling anything in Bangalore as of now. Currently, it is a processing plant processing all the food waste and, we are standardizing the process. In terms of feed safety, we have already tested it through a few laboratories at Rajasthan, including some veterinary colleges and it is found to be safe. We have high protein and fat content, as well as high digestive fibre which increases the fat content in the milk. We claim that these are low-cost feed material and it is a fact that it will help increase the quality and quantity of milk. Another advantage is that this feed decreases the veterinary costs because the cattle will now be exposed to natural minerals and proteins, which was not present/is low in their diet. This, over time increases their immunity. We have farmers in Rajasthan who have been using our feed for over 18 months now and they have reported 20% increase in milk production. They have seen the fat level rising from 3% to 4%. They have also reported that their veterinary spends have reduced by 50-70% which is a huge deal for farmers. Whenever a cattle falls ill, they have end up spending at least about Rs 2000/- for the veterinary visits plus medicines. Also, this medication adversely affects their milk production, which is a net loss for the farmers. If a cow giving 10 litres of milk a day falls ill, it goes down to 2 litres a day from where it gradually increases. But in that time frame there is loss of milk production plus medical charges for the cattle, not to mention all the hassle. So, this feed that we offer is packed with natural minerals and vitamins which will boost the health of the cattle and hence the milk production and its quality over time. Now, we are also doing new researches. We are trying to get bio tech grants under the government of India and trying to establish it through research to understand the impact these foods will have on the health and productivity of the cattle.
This cattle feed, I am assuming, will help those farmers who have a lot of cattle to produce more milk.
It is not just about more milk, it enhances the quality of milk as well. It ensure the milk has better fat content and the immunity of cows also increase over time. This is measured by the reduction in veterinary spends of those farmers who have tested our product. 1) There are many causes that can result in better cattle health right? How can we isolate and say that it has happened because of the cattle feed change. We are talking about farmers who have 30+ cattle on their farm. They have been into the dairy business for over 10 years now. They are people who have tried and tested with different kinds of cattle feed. They have used feed from cooperatives, local manufacturers – they have even done their own feeds. Usually round the year, there are periods like harsh summers, winters when cattle is susceptible to infections. They have found that when they used feed from local vendors or the ones they make themselves, prevalence of fever, diarrhea, mastitis etc. were high. Additionally, they have also reported a drastic drop in milk production during summers.
How long have you been into this?
We launched our company in 2015.
What is the biggest challenge in terms of scaling up this venture?
There has been a few challenges which we have been trying to solve: The availability of food waste: We were based in Jodhpur where we didn’t have access to a lot of waste. Not much that we could accumulate from industries, APMCs or the hotels and shops. Hence, we decided to put up this new plant in Bangalore because we have larger food processing units in Bangalore and nearby areas and we have bigger APMCs wherein wastage of crops like tomatoes and other products is quite high. Now, we have a potentially larger intake of waste and we can support all of our production units. The second challenge was dealing with that behaviour change. 90% of this segment is unorganized and the farmers are still feeding their cattle with what they have always been feeding. It is a challenge in itself. This challenge is something that is not faced by us alone. It is the same for cooperatives, etc. They put up training, workshops and we get them to exposure visits to these model farms where they understand what the right feeding practices are, how they should change the feed and how they continue with the new feed over a longer period of time. That is, if we have to change the feeding habit of cattle, you cannot do it overnight. It has to be done over a period of 7-10 days. The cattle may or may not get accustomed to the new taste. This is where the farmers go wrong. They change the feed overnight, the cattle won’t have it and the farmers feel it is of no use trying the new feed and hence, the feed fails. So, we have to be in constant touch and guide them through all processes. We are also working towards enhancing/masking all the fragrances and flavours. This is something what we are trying to do.
Does this affect the breeding cycle of the cattle?
We have not done any studies on the breeding. But, we have had farmers reporting incidents where we see that the cases of repeat breeding has gone down.
To think of it now, the cows in the city roam around and eat all the waste around and they look well fed. Whereas, the cows in the villages look skinny.
In the villages, the farmer usually feed them dry fodder. Farmers don’t have the understanding fodder preservation and they just harvest the fodder and keep it. That caters to dry fodder. Either they should convert it into silage or they can enhance the feed that they use right now. We know how our forefathers used to make additional rotis and vegetables just to feed the cattle. That time, the cattle was much healthier.
How did you hit upon this technology? Did you source it from somewhere or did you develop it on your own?
It is a widely a new technology but many aspects has been used in silos. As in some part of it was used in some places, while some other places used another part of it, etc. We clubbed all these things together to make a sane process. I cannot elaborate much about the technology because we are filing a process patent for that. I wouldn’t say it is new but we basically pulled in a few silo technologies into one unified process.
Did you receive any help from any of the research institutions, scientists or agricultural organizations, etc.?
Yes, we did get a lot of help. We have got mentors and subject matter specialists who have always been there to guide us in terms of giving us more options, pushing us to explore more of technology, trying to bring down the cost, etc. There is a program called INVENT, a platform that supports inclusive and innovative solutions under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, as well as the Department for International Development, Government of the United Kingdom. We got the initial funding from them. We also received funds from Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board, Social Alpha and Villgro-HDFC Bank. Yes bank sponsored us for new plant setup in Bengaluru.
What is the brand by which you are selling this product?
The brand name is Krimanshi.
Is it available now?
We are into sales in Rajasthan as of now. We will soon be starting the Bangalore sales by October.
In terms of cost, how much it will come up to per cow for a year?
We cannot put a cost on per cow a year because the amount of feed your cattle needs depends on the breed, the body weight, the milking capacity if the cow etc. The cost would differ from cow to cow. As a thumb rule, the cow has to be fed, or 40% in terms the milk it produces. For example, if the cow gives 10 litres of milk, it has to be fed 4 kilos of feed everyday plus 2 kilos for the maintenance. That is the feed to be given is calculated. The cost will vary from cow to cow. There are two aspects to this. Either the farmers would be saving 10% on the cost that they spend on the cow or they will see a benefit of 10% increase in milk production.
Contact-
Nikhil Bohra
Krimanshi Technologies Private Limited
Jodhpur, Rajasthan
Email:Nikhil@krimanshi.com
Talking to Mr. Nikhil Bohra instills hope and excitement. We wish him all the best!
Mr Nikhil, can you give us a brief introduction about yourself?
Sure. We are a dairy input start up. We are working on different kinds of food residue, and food waste to transform them into nutritional low cost cattle feed. We are based out of Jodhpur, Rajasthan and we have started a small food recycling unit in Bangalore as well. We are treating various kinds of food waste and food residue from different industries from Bangalore and Kolar and making cattle feed. You may be familiar that the milk prices are almost stagnant. They don’t increase at the pace at which the prices of feed input increase. For example, in the past one decade the milk prices have increased by 30-40% at the max. But, the cost of feed inputs have almost doubled. So, farmers purchasing feed at an increasing rate when there is no balanced increase in remuneration with the sale of the milk, it leads to much stress. This either leads to decreased feeding of cattle or it is a loss. Many times, these conditions lead to adulteration; for example, adding water/urea to milk, etc. All this happens fundamentally because the cost of feed is on the rise. This is the problem that we are targeting. We are trying to use more natural waste or residue which can be used as cattle feed. That has been our premise and since we are using these recycled residue we are able to match our price to the cooperative prices, which is the lowest in the market. We have four different variants of cattle feed depending on the productivity of the cattle. We are also getting into specialized feeds like calf starter or mineral mixtures etc. Apart from this, we have also started small pilots for poultry and fish feeds. We aim to launch the poultry and fish feeds by the start of next year – January 2020. This is a gist of what we do. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Is this a first-time attempt or has it been done by somebody already?
I wouldn’t say this is rocket science at any level. It has been done in bits and pieces. There are small farmers who when they are not able to sell some of their produce, feed it to their cattle. Whenever you feed cows with such feed like potatoes, carrots tomatoes etc. the quality of milk goes high.
Of course, it is not a new principle altogether that we have developed. It has been done in pieces but nobody has done it in the mainstream cattle feed business. If you see the totality of the business, it is a huge market and if we have to change any of the substituents or raw material, it has to be done in 1000s of tons. Even when I talk about food waste and agricultural waste, we don’t have a lot of things established – the supply chains are non-existent. We see ourselves as the pioneers who are working on this whole value chain where we are putting up supply chains of these kinds of raw materials at a larger scale wherein we could supply this across a few states in India to start with and gradually cover the whole nation.
Where are your production units located? Is the produce certified?
We have just started this venture in Bangalore. We have not commenced selling anything in Bangalore as of now. Currently, it is a processing plant processing all the food waste and, we are standardizing the process. In terms of feed safety, we have already tested it through a few laboratories at Rajasthan, including some veterinary colleges and it is found to be safe. We have high protein and fat content, as well as high digestive fibre which increases the fat content in the milk. We claim that these are low-cost feed material and it is a fact that it will help increase the quality and quantity of milk. Another advantage is that this feed decreases the veterinary costs because the cattle will now be exposed to natural minerals and proteins, which was not present/is low in their diet. This, over time increases their immunity. We have farmers in Rajasthan who have been using our feed for over 18 months now and they have reported 20% increase in milk production. They have seen the fat level rising from 3% to 4%. They have also reported that their veterinary spends have reduced by 50-70% which is a huge deal for farmers. Whenever a cattle falls ill, they have end up spending at least about Rs 2000/- for the veterinary visits plus medicines. Also, this medication adversely affects their milk production, which is a net loss for the farmers. If a cow giving 10 litres of milk a day falls ill, it goes down to 2 litres a day from where it gradually increases. But in that time frame there is loss of milk production plus medical charges for the cattle, not to mention all the hassle. So, this feed that we offer is packed with natural minerals and vitamins which will boost the health of the cattle and hence the milk production and its quality over time. Now, we are also doing new researches. We are trying to get bio tech grants under the government of India and trying to establish it through research to understand the impact these foods will have on the health and productivity of the cattle.
This cattle feed, I am assuming, will help those farmers who have a lot of cattle to produce more milk.
It is not just about more milk, it enhances the quality of milk as well. It ensure the milk has better fat content and the immunity of cows also increase over time. This is measured by the reduction in veterinary spends of those farmers who have tested our product. 1) There are many causes that can result in better cattle health right? How can we isolate and say that it has happened because of the cattle feed change. We are talking about farmers who have 30+ cattle on their farm. They have been into the dairy business for over 10 years now. They are people who have tried and tested with different kinds of cattle feed. They have used feed from cooperatives, local manufacturers – they have even done their own feeds. Usually round the year, there are periods like harsh summers, winters when cattle is susceptible to infections. They have found that when they used feed from local vendors or the ones they make themselves, prevalence of fever, diarrhea, mastitis etc. were high. Additionally, they have also reported a drastic drop in milk production during summers.
How long have you been into this?
We launched our company in 2015.
What is the biggest challenge in terms of scaling up this venture?
There has been a few challenges which we have been trying to solve: The availability of food waste: We were based in Jodhpur where we didn’t have access to a lot of waste. Not much that we could accumulate from industries, APMCs or the hotels and shops. Hence, we decided to put up this new plant in Bangalore because we have larger food processing units in Bangalore and nearby areas and we have bigger APMCs wherein wastage of crops like tomatoes and other products is quite high. Now, we have a potentially larger intake of waste and we can support all of our production units. The second challenge was dealing with that behaviour change. 90% of this segment is unorganized and the farmers are still feeding their cattle with what they have always been feeding. It is a challenge in itself. This challenge is something that is not faced by us alone. It is the same for cooperatives, etc. They put up training, workshops and we get them to exposure visits to these model farms where they understand what the right feeding practices are, how they should change the feed and how they continue with the new feed over a longer period of time. That is, if we have to change the feeding habit of cattle, you cannot do it overnight. It has to be done over a period of 7-10 days. The cattle may or may not get accustomed to the new taste. This is where the farmers go wrong. They change the feed overnight, the cattle won’t have it and the farmers feel it is of no use trying the new feed and hence, the feed fails. So, we have to be in constant touch and guide them through all processes. We are also working towards enhancing/masking all the fragrances and flavours. This is something what we are trying to do.
Does this affect the breeding cycle of the cattle?
We have not done any studies on the breeding. But, we have had farmers reporting incidents where we see that the cases of repeat breeding has gone down.
To think of it now, the cows in the city roam around and eat all the waste around and they look well fed. Whereas, the cows in the villages look skinny.
In the villages, the farmer usually feed them dry fodder. Farmers don’t have the understanding fodder preservation and they just harvest the fodder and keep it. That caters to dry fodder. Either they should convert it into silage or they can enhance the feed that they use right now. We know how our forefathers used to make additional rotis and vegetables just to feed the cattle. That time, the cattle was much healthier.
How did you hit upon this technology? Did you source it from somewhere or did you develop it on your own?
It is a widely a new technology but many aspects has been used in silos. As in some part of it was used in some places, while some other places used another part of it, etc. We clubbed all these things together to make a sane process. I cannot elaborate much about the technology because we are filing a process patent for that. I wouldn’t say it is new but we basically pulled in a few silo technologies into one unified process.
Did you receive any help from any of the research institutions, scientists or agricultural organizations, etc.?
Yes, we did get a lot of help. We have got mentors and subject matter specialists who have always been there to guide us in terms of giving us more options, pushing us to explore more of technology, trying to bring down the cost, etc. There is a program called INVENT, a platform that supports inclusive and innovative solutions under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, as well as the Department for International Development, Government of the United Kingdom. We got the initial funding from them. We also received funds from Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board, Social Alpha and Villgro-HDFC Bank. Yes bank sponsored us for new plant setup in Bengaluru.
What is the brand by which you are selling this product?
The brand name is Krimanshi.
Is it available now?
We are into sales in Rajasthan as of now. We will soon be starting the Bangalore sales by October.
In terms of cost, how much it will come up to per cow for a year?
We cannot put a cost on per cow a year because the amount of feed your cattle needs depends on the breed, the body weight, the milking capacity if the cow etc. The cost would differ from cow to cow. As a thumb rule, the cow has to be fed, or 40% in terms the milk it produces. For example, if the cow gives 10 litres of milk, it has to be fed 4 kilos of feed everyday plus 2 kilos for the maintenance. That is the feed to be given is calculated. The cost will vary from cow to cow. There are two aspects to this. Either the farmers would be saving 10% on the cost that they spend on the cow or they will see a benefit of 10% increase in milk production.
Contact-
Nikhil Bohra
Krimanshi Technologies Private Limited
Jodhpur, Rajasthan
Email:Nikhil@krimanshi.com
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