Dairy production in an urbanizing environment-Typology and linkages in the megacity of Bengaluru, India

Abstract

Urbanization is a main driver of agricultural transition in the Global South but how it shapes trends of intensification or extensification is not yet well understood. The Indian megacity of Bengaluru combines rapid urbanization with a high demand for dairy products, which is partly supplied by urban and peri-urban dairy producers. To study the impacts of urbanization on dairy production and to identify key features of dairy production systems across Bengaluru's rural-urban interface, 337 dairy producers were surveyed on the socio-economic profile of their household, their dairy herd and management, resources availability and, in- and output markets. A two-step cluster analysis identified four spatially explicit dairy production systems based on urbanization level of their neighborhood, reliance on self-cultivated forages, pasture use, cattle in- and outflow and share of specialized dairy genotypes. The most extensive dairy production system, common to the whole rural-urban interface, utilized publicly available feed resources and pasture grounds rather than to cultivate forages. In rural areas, two semi-intensive and one intensive dairy production systems relying on self-cultivation of forage with or without pasture further distinguished themselves by their herd and breeding management. In rural areas, the village's dairy cooperative, which also provided access to inputs such as exotic genotype through artificial insemination, concentrate feeds and health care, was often the only marketing channel available to dairy producers, irrespective of the dairy production system to which they belonged. In urban areas, milk was mostly sold through direct marketing or a middleman. Despite rapidly progressing urbanization and a population of 10 million, Bengaluru's dairy sector still relies on small-scale family dairy farms. Shifts in resources availability, such as land and labor, are potential drivers of market-oriented intensification but also extensification of dairy production in an urbanizing environment.

Fig 1. Map of Bengaluru (built-up area in color), northern and southern research transects and selected settlements (dots) per stratum (colors) of the Survey Stratification Index (SSI) with 1 = urban and 6 = rural.

Fig 2

Frequency of a) dairy producers (%) according to the urbanization level of the dairy farm’s surroundings (P SSI; stratum 1 = urban to stratum 6 = rural), b) herds (%) according to the prevalence of exotic genotypes within the herd (P-GEN) and c) herds (%) according to the type of cattle flows within the herd (P-FLOW), overall and for each dairy production system (DPS). #^a = 4% each for stratum 1 and 2 in the overall sample; #^b = 1% for Semi-B_DPS stratum 2; #^c = 3% for Int_DPS stratum 1 and 4% for Int_DPS stratum 3; #^d = 1% for Int_DPS, low prevalence.

Fig 3

Frequency of a) herds (%) according to their use of pasture through grazing (P-PAS) and b) dairy producers according to their reliance, at least partial, on self-cultivated forages (P-FOR), overall and for each dairy production system (DPS).

Fig 4. Pictures of dairy cattle in the streets and grazing on green public grounds.

All pictures were taken in urban neighborhoods (SSI = 1 or 2).

Fig 5. Pictures of dairy cattle in the streets and grazing on green public grounds.

All pictures were taken in urban neighborhoods (SSI = 1 or 2).

Fig 6. Pictures of dairy cattle in the streets and grazing on green public grounds.

All pictures were taken in urban neighborhoods (SSI = 1 or 2).

Fig 7. Picture of a dairy cow feeding on organic wastes collected from a vegetable market.