Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) on Tuesday, May 30 signed an agreement with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for fodder acreage assessment using satellite observation and space technology.
Amul brand owner Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation's sales rise 18% for FY2017
GCMMF is a cooperative body that markets its products under the brand name of 'Amul'.
The tie-up between Amul and ISRO will benefit the dairy farmers, as ISRO will help in identification between food crops and fodder crops at village-level and also locate suitable areas of unused and cultivable wastelands at village level for green fodder cultivation.
According to a press release by the GCMMF, a joint programme conducted by ISRO's Space Applications Centre (SAC) and Amul had found out that remote sensing can help to assess green fodder availability for dairy livestock at districts and villages.
Fodder acreage estimation will also facilitate the monitoring and planning of fodder development activities by the stakeholders in the dairy sector.
While 35 lakh milk producers from over 18,500 villages in Gujarat are already supplying around 150 lakh litres of milk to Amul on a daily basis, the remote sensing technology will be benefitting dairy farmers with a rather increased and fresh supply of fodder.
According to the Times of India, GCMMF Managing Director R S Sodhi said, "The development and growth of dairy animals are highly associated with the scope of availability of fodder from cultivable land, forest, pastures and grazing lands, which are crucial input for enhancing milk production and for survival of the bovine population."
