Akshayakalpa: Infinite possibilities from dairy farming

While we celebrate Mahatma Gandhi this year, let’s see how his philosophy has inspired a venture that allows us to practice Gandhian philosophy in the modern world.

Watch our episode on Akshayakalpa here.

Food is one of the three basic human needs along with air and water. Less than a hundred years ago, we didn’t have enough food which led us to welcome the green revolution, which solved the quantity problem but caused a quality problem, as highlighted in a previous post. Along with the food potentially becoming toxic, the overuse of fertilizers and pesticides wreaks havoc on the environment. This is a global problem.

Farming in India is even more important than in other countries because it employs nearly half the population. Indian farmers live in constant poverty, earning less than 50,000 rupees per year.

Hence, we have a triple whammy – toxic food affecting our health, soil, and water getting depleted of nutrition and getting polluted respectively, and farmers not being able to earn a sustainable livelihood. As wicked as problems come.

Natural, organic, regenerative – all variations on the basic theme – farming is trying to address this problem. At the heart of this movement is the cow. It’s cow dung that is used as fertiliser in these natural farming processes. So it’s understandable that someone attempted to make cows more scalable. Yes, cows produce methane but that can be mitigated.

Origin story

Inspired by a Gandhian lecture, Dr. GNS Reddy started an experiment in 2009, creating a new model that not only uses dairy to supplement the income of farmers but also leverages it to create a closed loop of inputs and outputs that add significant value to the farming cycle. The initiative eventually became an entrepreneurial venture in 2010 when current CEO Shashi Kumar and eight other colleagues left their corporate jobs to join the venture as co-founders.

Shashi told us in the interview that they originally wanted to work with women, hoping to empower them, but then realised that women empowerment requires much more than livelihood support.

Integrated dairy farming – with veggie/fodder and methane capture

The company showcases a ‘model farm’ – a two-acre vegetable on a raised bed that can be managed by two people yet feed a hundred families, sprinkled with bee-hives and surrounded by taller trees like coconut that shelter fodder for the 2-3 cows that produce milk and cow dung. The by-product of methane gets captured and used to power the milking and chilling equipment as well as the household kitchen.

The company works with one family per village to maximise the inspiration for rural India. The selection process is not easy – the farmers have to be young to middle aged, have a good credit history, and be teetotallers. They also have to have their own 2-3 acres of land and access to water, electricity, and credit. After working with the farmers for a period of 18 to 24 months to ensure the soil is free of pesticides, the company then supports the farmers by selling them indigenous cows that are already lactating.

Shashi explains that the veggie patch and cows combination ensures that the farmers can earn an income daily, through the sale of veggies and fortnightly, through the sale of milk to Akshayakalpa.

The company supports the farmers throughout the process. The cows are milked by machines with sensors to ensure not only hygiene but also data monitoring by the company. Vets are on call to ensure there are no preventable or treatable diseases. The milk is chilled at the farm itself to minimise any bacterial growth.

The larger farms have bulk chilling machines as well as methane plants. The cow dung and urine are put through the methane unit to produce gas and fertilising slurry.

The company now works with around 900 farms…

Milk processing

The state-of-the-art milk processing unit in Tiptur processes x litres of milk per day serving Bengaluru. The x plant came online in 2023 to serve Chennai.
The output products range from pasteurised milk to curd to ghee to a range of cheeses. These are available through a company app as well as on online marketplaces.

Business

The business has raised x million
Revenues of 130 crores