Kishore Indukuri, Founder and Managing Director at Sid’s Farm, runs a dairy farm based out of Hyderabad. He is an IIT graduate, holds a Masters and a Doctorate from University of Massachusetts left a high-paying, secure, and lucrative job at Intel in the US and returned to India. He began his diary farm in 2014 with a vision of setting a new benchmark in the milk industry with superior quality dairy products and a sustainable ecosystem.

In the past few years, the Indian dairy industry has received a tremendous boost through technology-driven products, services and solutions. Coming to think of it, we have actually come a very long way. Be it in superior cold chain management, ever evolving e-commerce platforms, farm management systems, or product traceability. Take for example the 6,500+ tests that we do at our lab every single day. It would not have been possible if technology had not made it simple for us to detect undesirable traces in very less time. We also ensure complete transparency with our customers by publishing our daily milk test results and also the number of litres of milk rejected every day as it failed to conform to one or more parameters.

Impact of Robotic milking machine

I am of the opinion that contrary to popular belief, robotic milking does not cause harm. In fact, it eliminates the chances of personal variance thus causing lesser distress to cattle. On the business front, it of course leaves the farm personnel with a less effort, more time which they can utilize to optimize output. With modifications, it also helps in real time detection of common health concerns like mastitis in cattle. There are regular advancements being made in this regard in the west where study has revealed ways to boost efficiency by selecting cows for milking speed and teat positioning. This technology will keep playing a significant part in shaping the dairy industry’s future.

Blockchain Technology enhances the Indian dairy industry

With consumers today willing to pay more for food safety and sustainability, Blockchain technology for supply chain and traceability in dairy has created some interesting solutions as well as opportunities. Farmers today can update information about the location of farm, breed, vaccinations, medications, and special treatments, if any. Farmers can assign RFID devices or any other sensors to track the movement and health of the animals, which can be updated into the Blockchain network. Real time monitoring of the cold chain is now possible.With the application of Blockchain technology, traceability, accountability and quality assurance can be bettered to a level where food industries can react to the food safety issues faster.

We are in the midst of an exciting phase where new doors are being opened by technology every day. We are quickly advancing into an era of technology enabled precision farming and food processing. Simpler more effective technology is being devised and connected by IoT for real time monitoring and intervention. Accessibility and affordability of technology is improving by the day and we are certainly waiting for more.