Agriculture and Dairy Education

Revered Prof. Prem Saran Satsangi, on 6th of July 2014, while explaining the Dayalbagh Way of Life and Agriculture and Dairying forming the fifth component of the Sigma Six Q model, stated, “Agriculture gives us opportunity to do selfless service and it is recognized in the country that there is still great opportunity to develop agriculture. It won’t be enough if we give emphasis to industry only. If we want to reach our progress in the country to all sections of people in Society, it is necessary to introduce entrepreneurship, innovation etc. in agriculture also for realizing desired progress and development”.

Agriculture Operations is an essential element of the education system at the Dayalbagh Educational Institute (DEI). In the article below, Prof. Prem Kumar Dantu takes us through the 

‘Agriculture and Dairy Education at DEI’.

Eat well,

Anurag

Prof. Dantu writes...

Agriculture operation in Dayalbagh has a hundred-year history. It is a need-based, sustainable, eco-friendly, and a scientific endeavour. Dayalbagh is self-sufficient in food for its residents and pilgrims and produces enough green fodder and bhusa (straw) for its Gaushala (Cowshed). In addition, it produces several fruits and herbs for Dayalbagh Pharmacy. Most of the agriculture operations are performed on a voluntary basis. This voluntary seva (selfless service) based agriculture model, on a smaller scale, is also practiced in Dayalbagh colonies in other parts of the country, such as Rajaborari and Timarni in M.P., Murar in Bihar, MTV Puram in Tamil Nadu, and Kakinada and Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Hundreds of volunteers work together in the farms, every morning and evening irrespective of their age, gender, class, caste, and status.

Turning of harvested wheat plants

The Education Policy of Dayalbagh Educational Institute, penned by Revered Dr. M. B. Lal Sahab, highlights the importance of Agriculture Operations as an essential element of the education system of the Institute. The Policy also emphasizes that the Head of the Institute, himself/ herself have an “active involvement in field work so as to infuse staff and students with enthusiasm”. Dayalbagh agriculture operates on scientific principles for which there is a RSSAF Scientific Advisory Committee.

Demonstration of Power Thresher

Agriculture Operations and Rural Development are mandatory core courses for students of all streams in DEI, with students participating in and getting hands-on training in all aspects of agriculture. Further, under NSS, students participate in various farm related and rural development activities. On Sundays, students in large numbers do field work. Students also participate in Gaushala maintenance, Dairy, herbal garden maintenance, biodiversity park development, and mushroom cultivation.

Demonstration of Disc Harrowing

There are plans to start precision farming to optimize utilization of manpower, irrigation water, and soil addendum, and to train students in the modern methods of cultivation. DEI has initiated agriculture education by starting undergraduate courses in B.Sc. Applied Botany and B. Voc. Agriculture Technology and an MBA programme in Agriculture Management.

Harvesting of Barseem

Activities in Progress

Energy conservation and reducing Diesel usage

Wheat, Gram, Mustard, Masoor, Baajra, Barseem and Barley are sown in Dayalbagh every year. Threshing is done to take out the seeds from these crops. The threshers are driven by 3-phase AC induction motors, with the system designed in DEI in collaboration with the Agriculture Department of Dayalbagh.

The electric distribution system for running the threshers with electric motors is designed in DEI with protections, metering, and alarms and appropriately sized cables to minimize voltage drop and losses. Three of the threshing machines run on solar power generated in DEI, reducing the electricity consumption from the Grid and potential downtime due to power failure. A dedicated solar power plant of 50kWp capacity is installed in the Dairy and Agriculture complex. A 20kW capacity Bio-gas plant is being commissioned and will be integrated through a Smart Micro Grid.

Ground water conservation through rain water harvesting and use of sewage treated water

Much of the agricultural irrigation in Dayalbagh is done through sewage treated water from the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) situated at Dayalbagh. DEI helps Dayalbagh maintain the STP motors for pumping the treated water into canals for irrigation. A Short Messaging Service (SMS) based embedded system for remote monitoring and control of STP pumps has been designed and deployed by the students of DEI.

Integrated solar farming with remote controlled solar assisted micro-irrigation system for local energy use and better farm productivity

The concept of a solar agriculture farm is being developed in DEI. A novel sun-tracking structure has been developed that accommodates 50 solar modules at a minimum ground clearance of 12 feet, thereby facilitating multiple land use, viz. solar-agriculture farm where agriculture can be performed in the land beneath the solar modules. Combination of solar farming with agriculture increases the land yield. The cost of module support structure is compensated by the cost of the land salvaged. This will allow for a through the year solar crop even if the agricultural crop gets affected due to insufficient rains/ otherwise. These multiple land use models would allow large MW size solar plants to be installed near load centres and sub-stations, reducing the cost of grid infrastructure required when these solar power plants are installed on distant barren lands.

Mobile SPV plants for irrigation and other applications

Mobile SPV plants are being developed at DEI which are mounted on a trolley or a vehicle to be used for irrigation in rural areas where erratic or absent electric supply. The vehicle may be towed using a tractor with the SPV modules folded. Whenever required, the SPV modules can be unfolded (manually or motorized) to capture sun light and can power the irrigation pumps or for other uses. A multi-purpose variable frequency drive may be used for irrigation pumps as well as other applications. Typical sizes are 2 – 5 kWp capacity.

Proposed activities

Village Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Grid

Design and development of village DER Grid which would comprise of Irrigation Micro Grid and Residential Micro Grid with possible interoperability. Both micro grids have different load profiles and hence the separation.

Renewable energy solutions for completing the value chain for farmers located at remote places without access to reliable electricity

Extending the village DER grids/ designing efficient and economic stand-alone SPV plants to power cold storages, driers, winnowers, flour/ dal mills, husking machines etc. and complete the value chain for empowering the farmers at remote locations to grow crops of their choice and to get better agricultural land yields.

Data aggregation, data analytics, Machine Learning applications for Village micro grids

Precision agriculture involving sensors, embedded controllers and drip irrigation systems are going to be essential for future organic agriculture. Integrating the sensor data, weather logs and the solar data logs would be useful for efficient irrigation and precision farming. Modern Machine Learning techniques can be used to study and infer potential threats, economics and reliability of the system. Development of such handy software tools will help ensure efficient, economic and reliable operations of DER micro grids encompassing precision agriculture. Cloud storage servers would enable remote monitoring, analysis and control of village DER grids and agriculture.

Drones for precision farming application and surveillance

It is proposed to work on this area for localizing weeds and diseases, determining soil properties, detecting vegetative differences in farms associated with Dayalbagh. However, because of legal restrictions the drone payload should not exceed 5 kg.

Sustainable Development Solutions through Strategic Planning in Agriculture via Interactive Management Strategy

Idea Engineering, Fuzzy DELPHI, Option Field and Option Profile Methodologies along with Scenario Building Exercise and many other techniques of interactive management and system design to be utilized for solutions using Second Generation System Design Paradigm for the said sustainable agriculture initiatives. Such initiatives at sub-system level in Dayalbagh Farming System may be a starting point where deliverables could be used and closely monitored for further nurturing and modifications.

Hydraulic Ram (HYDRAM) for water lifting as a green irrigation initiative

The use of eco-friendly HYDRAM at different identified locations in the farm may reduce costs. A pilot study on use of HYDRAM is proposed.

Sprinkler Systems as Rain-fall Simulators

Besides, other promising areas viz. pico power generation, environmental protection practices, technology assisted organic farming, training and learning initiatives for farmers, students and stakeholders can also be explored and pursued.

Rural Development and Empowering Rural Women

DEI has embarked on a new educational pedagogy of engaging, educating, and improving skills of the rural women. In the remote tribal zones of Madhya Pradesh, ADyNaM (Agri Dairy Nano Processing of Multi-products) Foods has been set up. ADyNaM is a facility for processing of the agricultural and dairy-based raw produce to make secondary products. Women are trained on the production of pickles, chutney, amla candy, and squashes. Recently, a level-1 food testing laboratory has been setup to implement quality control, and to comply with the food safety standards.

Agriculture Education at DEI

In order that the experiential knowledge that Dayalbagh and DEI collectively possess benefits the society at large and contributes to the Nation, Faculty of Agriculture is proposed to be established by DEI after obtaining the necessary approvals and permissions. The Department of Botany got approvals from UGC to start two new courses namely B.Sc. (Hons) Applied Botany and B. Voc. Agriculture Technology from 2017. The Department of Management has initiated an MBA programme in Agriculture Management from 2017 session.

B. Voc. Agriculture Technology students sowing groundnut

Agriculture Operations in Dairying

RSS (Radhasoami Satsang Sabha) Gaushala in collaboration with DEI is transforming into a state-of-the-art Gaushala with the use of RFID, ICT tools, management software, sensors, and modern practices for precise management of nutrition, health, and breeding of cattle. The objective is to develop RSS Gaushala and DEI into a centre of excellence for precision Dairy Farming and Dairy Technology. The effort is to increase milk yield by improving nutrition, health, and breed of the cattle.

Breeding: Database management for maintaining all breeding records using precision Dairy farming software system. The database also records data on heat/ A.I./ calving/ milk yield/ treatment etc. are maintained.

Feeding: Feed planning originates from cultivation of our own crops. Extensive agricultural operations spread over 800 acres and wide range of crops balanced between crops for human and animal consumption is maintained. Each product of crop & its by-product is utilised. Emphasis is on quality & quantity of green fodder, which is the natural and cheapest source of protein. Silage preparation is also done to cater for the lean period.

Facilities Management: Wi-Fi network across the Gaushala provides ready access of information, which is critical for taking spot decisions. There is category & age group-wise housing of the herd. There is a platform weighing scale for monitoring the weight and growth of cattle (calves and heifers). Other B. Voc. Agriculture Technology students sowing groundnut facilities include a cattle bathing shower, similar to a car wash, where the water used for bathing feeds the buffalo pond and thereafter taken for cultivation of crops after getting enriched in urine & cow dung slurry. There is a cow brush parlour, with a sensor-based scrubber and timer. The rotatory movement with brushes relaxes the cows during idle time by reducing itching and increasing blood circulation. The eco-friendly sheds with thatched roofing maintain temperature during summers & winters. Other activities to reduce cattle stress:

• Playing of devotional music during milking
• Giving names to each cow & conversing with them using their names
• Access to clean & fresh drinking water at all times
• Improving ventilation in sheds by lowering of brick walls
• Installation of fans in high yielder shed
• Using thatched roofing in new sheds
• Khus-chick curtains with drip system and misting are being experimented to reduce the heat stress of the cattle

Dairy Technology Activities in Dayalbagh

Cupid is a logo of REI Dairy products. REI Dairy has been judged as Asia’s best and world’s second-best dairy. On 8th January 1934, Cupid Butter landed in United States after travelling 10,000 miles for 45 days over land and sea without refrigeration and scored 91 points as compared with the score of 92 points scored by the best fresh butter produced in America. Several dignitaries, who visited REI Dairy whole heartedly praised its efficient and professional operations and the quality of its products. In 1935, during his visit to Dayalbagh, Lord Willingdon, Viceroy and Governor General of India, was pleased to call it “the most efficient” Dairy seen by him in many years. Cupid butter was awarded Certificate of Merit in the All India Exhibition of Arts and Industries in Punjab. In 1938, a six months Certificate course on practical training in Modern Dairying and Livestock Management was started at REI Dairy. In 1943, the efficiency of the dairy received a further testimony from the American Forces in Agra, when during 1943-45, they decided to get all their supplies of milk from this Dairy in preference to the Military Dairy in Agra.

Dairy Education at DEI

In 1994, the Dairy became a part of DEI, and work experience training in Dairy products was initiated. In 2015, DEI became the first Deen Dayal Upadhyay Kaushal Kendra in the country with Vocational Programmes in Dairy Technology. Under Kaushal Kendra, B. Voc., M. Voc. and Ph.D. Programmes in Dairy Technology have been approved by UGC. From the 2015-16 session, B. Voc. (Dairy Technology) was launched.

An experimental mini Dairy plant has been setup for providing in-house training to the students. Using this facility, students produce a variety of nutritional value-added dairy products, which not only caters to the needs of the local community and DEI on non-commercial basis, but also gives them practical exposure to entrepreneurship in Dairy Sector. DEI is privileged to have the first student run mini dairy plant in Northern India with FSSAI License, HACCP certification, export permit from Export Inspection Agency, Govt. of India, and commercial permit from US Department of Agriculture for the export of flavoured milk and butter.

The emphasis of these programmes is on entrepreneurship. The B. Voc. (Dairy Technology) has also been launched at the DEI ICT Centre at Amritsar. In December 2016, under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana for Technical Institutions through AICTE, a certificate course on Dairy Equipment Operator has been launched. Mini Dairy plants are also being set up in DEI ICT Centres at Amritsar, Timarni and Rajaborari. The objective is to reach out to other regions including remote parts of the country, and provide quality vocational programmes, and contribute to the mission of skilling, entrepreneurship in a scaled up and accelerated mode.