Impacts of COVID-19 on Small-Scale Dairy Enterprises in an Indian Megacity—Insights from Greater Bengaluru

Md Shahin Alam,Marion Reichenbach,Eva Schlecht

doi:10.3390/su14042057

Abstract

Natural calamities and pandemics massively affect small-scale entrepreneurs. In this paper, we aim to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic affected small dairy farms in the megacity of Bengaluru, India, where they supply a high share of the milk demand. In 2020 a total of 129 farms were visited before the first lockdown (January to March) and interviewed again after the lockdown had been loosened (August to September). Questions addressed feed supply to dairy cows, milk yield and marketing, and coping strategies for lockdown impacts. Results showed that the share of farmers not feeding concentrates increased from 1% before lockdown to 7% afterward (p < 0.05), and those not offering dry forages increased from 20% to 33% (p < 0.05) due to increasing forage prices. Milk yield dropped in all surveyed farms from 3905 L before to 2861 L after lockdown (p < 0.05) due to the sale of 30% of lactating cows across the farms. Enabling farmers to better cope with shocks through feed storage and by processing their surplus milk into durable products should be prioritised by supporting institutions such as dairy cooperatives. Alternatively, insurance schemes can capacitate farmers to maintain a fresh milk supply to urban consumers in the wake of global challenges.

Highlights

Urbanization is a major trend of the 21st century; in the decade, this phenomenon will be strongest in Asia and West Africa, creating both opportunities and challenges [1].On the one hand, people move into urban areas to achieve a better quality of life [2].On the other, this puts enormous pressure on land, food production, and other natural resources in cities and their outlying neighbourhoods [3,4]
We originally selected 18 lakes, where we found cattle grazing or dairy farmers harvesting fodder for their 18 cows to study of cattle fodder fromfarmers public
The majority (75%) of dairy farmers sold the milk to dairy cooperatives of which they were members; the remaining 25% sold the milk directly to private consumers and restaurants

Summary

Introduction

People move into urban areas to achieve a better quality of life [2] On the other, this puts enormous pressure on land, food production, and other natural resources in cities and their outlying neighbourhoods [3,4]. Cities mostly depend on rural food production systems, but in the Global South, part of the food has to be produced in and around cities to fulfill the demand of city dwellers because of weaknesses in the food value chain, such as weak cool-chains [3,5] Food production in both rural and urban areas can be threatened by natural calamities (e.g., floods, droughts, earthquakes, tsunamis, firestorms) as well asdiseases (epidemics and pandemics; [6]). The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, colloquially known as COVID-19) was first diagnosed in Wuhan, China, in December

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