When Shashi Kumar founded Akshayakalpa Organic in 2010, the concept of organic milk was non-existent in India.
He recalls, “Initially, we surveyed villages in Tumkur, Hassan, and Chikamaglur districts in Karnataka to find suitable farmers willing to produce organic milk. It took us almost 2 years to produce the first litre of organic milk!”
Today, Tiptur Karnataka-based circular dairy farming brand, Akshayakalpa (meaning unlimited possibilities) works closely with young farmers who have discontinued farming operations due to economic non-viability. “We groom them as entrepreneurs by providing bank linkages, extension outreach, technical services, and market access. We believe in a symbiotic relationship between human beings and natural resources. Therefore, by design, we follow organic production processes that integrate better soil management and build farm biodiversity. Furthermore, we use technology interventions to evaluate and improve closed-loop farming ecosystems objectively.”
The inspiration behind setting up Akshayakalpa came from Masanobu Fukuoka, a Japanese farmer who tried to simply farm and make it a vocation where young people can enjoy while living in nature.
The hurdles
Shashi shares that it takes close to 2 years to train the farmers to adopt the organic production systems and enable the production of milk where cows are not under stress. Also, the education of consumers about what organic really is and its benefits was definitely challenging. “But over the last couple of years, we are seeing a drastic shift in consumer behaviour toward organic,” he adds.
Over the years, after investing several resources in R & D, Akshayakalpa Organic offers a wide range of organic milk and milk products of utmost purity and quality. The highlight of any Akshayakalpa product is to ensure that they are free of any antibiotics, added preservatives and any other sort of toxic chemicals. We are also working towards sugar-free dairy products.
Currently, Akshayakalpa has products spread across 15 different categories of products including organic milk, organic ghee, organic cheese, organic butter, organic paneer, organic curd, organic buttermilk, organic bread, organic honey, organic batter, organic virgin coconut oil, coconuts, fruits, herbs, eggs and more.
Akshayakalpa Organic is India’s first certified organic dairy enterprise, some of the other certifications include:
- Certified Organic by NPOP
- FSSAI License
- Jaivik Bharat
- India Organic
- Certified Fair Trade by FairTSA organisation.
Building the organic tribe
Speaking of the company’s footprint Shashi says, “Bengaluru is our home market and we have our presence in the Chennai and Hyderabad markets too. We are currently focusing on growing the Akshayakalpa Organic tribe across the current cities that we are present before we start any expansions.
Akshayakalpa Organic has adopted several key sustainable activities across its farms.
Nothing goes waste or out of the farms at the Akshayakalpa farms. Akshayakalpa trains farmers to grow feed and fodder locally on his own farm, soil management is given utmost precedence to drive the message of sustainable farming. The company initiated the #GiveBackTheMilkPack campaign on World Environment Day. “We collected used milk packs back from our consumers. These plastic packets were then converted to pellets and were given to the recycling partners to make reusable products,” Shashi informed.
Elucidating on the role of the government in promoting organic dairy, and desi vs Jersey cows, he opined that support from the government is required to encourage farmers to adopt organic dairy actively, via extension work, training and market development support. “Organic milk production is dependent on what the cow eats and how she is looked after; it does not depend on the breed. We support all Desi as well as cross-breed cows.”
Outlining future plans, Shashi said “At the moment, we aim to build a stronger customer and farmers base in and around the cities where we currently operate. While growth is important, we believe in maintaining our production quality and giving our consumers the best products and services. On the agriculture front, we hope to train more farmers and encourage them to take up farming as a livelihood and enable them in recognising that agriculture can be a profession.”
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