From a marginal dairy farmer to the owner of a khawa unit - Dhanraj Maroti Shinde, Uttka village in Latur district, Maharashtra

I hail from a small village in Latur district that suffers from perennial shortage of water. I could barely earn anything substantial from my three acres of land. My main source of income was a small dairy collection unit. I used to collect about 200-220 litres of milk per day and sell it to a local cooperative which provided me with a meagre ₹5,000 per month, forcing me to work as a daily wage labourer whenever I could find work.

The lockdown imposed in March 2020 exacerbated my difficulties as the price of milk crashed. I had to shut down my centre for days.

मित्राच्या सल्ल्याने मी आयसीआयसीआय फाउंडेशनमध्ये मोफत ‘डेयरी फाउंडेशन’ अभ्यासक्रमासाठी प्रवेश घेतला. मी सर्व थिअरी आणि प्रॅक्टिकल वर्गांना हजेरी लावली आणि दुग्धव्यवसायाचे प्रशिक्षण घेतले तसेच दुग्धजन्य पूरक उत्पादनांच्या संपूर्ण मूल्य साखळीचे अंतर्गत ज्ञान मिळवले. (On the advice of a friend, I enrolled myself for the free ‘Dairy Farming’ course of ICICI Foundation. I attended all theory and practical sessions, and learnt dairy farming as well as acquired insights into the entire value chain of dairy by-products.)

Post completion of my training, I purchased a machine and started manufacturing khawa. I have not looked back since then.

With our hard work, my family and I use the milk collected at our centre to make high quality khawa in a hygienic manner. We supply our khawa to satisfied customers in the nearby towns. My monthly income has doubled now and that encourages me to expand our business. People from nearby villages visit my plant to learn more about making khawa.

वयाच्या ५३ व्या वर्षी माझ्यासारखा लहान शेतकरी उद्योजक बनला आहे. मला मार्ग दाखवल्याबद्दल आणि हे रुपांतरण शक्य केल्याबद्दल आयसीआयसीआय फाउंडेशनचे धन्यवाद. (At 53, I have been transformed from a marginal farmer to an entrepreneur. Thank you ICICI Foundation for showing me the way and making this transformation possible.)