Ind. Jn. ofAgri. Econ. Vol.51, No.4, Oct.-Dec. 1996 Integrated Milk Co-operatives in North-West Uttar Pradesh: Organisation, Functioning and Performance V.P.S. Arora and T.S. 13hogal* The first co-operative activity in dairy enterprise in the country started with the orga- nisation of Katra Co-operative Milk Society in 1917 at Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh).In 1938, the Lucicnow Milk Producers' Union was established, followed by similar establishments at Allahabad(1941), Varanasi(1947), Kanpur (1948), Haldwani (1949), and Meerut(1950). To provide effective impetus to the dairy development programme in the state, the State Co-operative Dairy Federation was established in 1962. The Operation-Flood 1,11 and ifi schemes were launched in the state in 1970-71, 1982 and 1987 respectively. At present, about 60 districts of the state are covered under the dairy development programme of the co-operative sector. In this paper an attempt is made to analyse and present the organisational set-up,system of functioning and performance of integrated dairy co-operatives in the north-west region of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.). RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The study is conducted in the north-west region of U.P., well known for progressive development in agriculture and dairying. Through random sampling, Meerut district was selected for an in-depth study. From Meerut district, two blocks one having high concen- tration and the other having low concentration of milk animals per hectare of crop area were selected randomly. From each sample block six villages having a dairy co-operative and ten milk producers from each sample village were randomly selected for the study. While secondary data are obtained from District Co-operative Milk Union, primary data are col- lected from 120 sample milk producers for the year 1993-94.The data are collected through cost accounting method,taken fortnightly from the milk producers and dairy co-operatives. Linear time trend equations were fitted to the time-series data while primary data are analysed by applying simple statistical measures of tendency. The sample milk producers are cate- gorised as small (having one milk animal), medium (having 2-3 milk animals) and large (having 4 and more milk animals)for the purpose of analysis. AN OVERVIEW OF DAIRY CO-OPERATIVES A co-operative milk supply union was organised in 1950 at Meerut which started col- lecting milk from the villages and supplying it to the local markets in Delhi and Meerut. The union continued its activities for about a decade. In the meantime, the Government of India established the Delhi Milk Scheme(DMS) in 1959-60 to ensure milk supply to the local population at cheaper rate. The milk was collected through contractors and 10 milk unions. Out of these unions, seven were in Meerut district. These unions functioned in ,a rather lopsided manner till 1977 and gradually became defunct. The collection and supply of milk practically became the monopoly of contractors. * Professor and Head, and Associate Professor, respectively, Department of Agricultural Economics, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology,Pantnagar-263 145 (U.P.). CO-OPERATIVES IN RURAL ECONOMY 745 The Operation Flood-I was launched in the state by the Pradeshik Co-operative Dairy Federation(PCDF) in order to replicate the Anand Model of organising and functioning of co-operative societies. Though the organisation of societies was taken in three blocks of the district(Meerut) in 1972, the real work started in 1978 with the posting and functioning of Spear Head Team (SHT)from National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). By 1981, a team of 27 employees, drawn from Meerut milkshed, under the guidance of Spear Head Team,organised 198 milk procurement co-operatives when the phase-1 ofOperation Flood-I ended. The real beginning of dairy co-operatives in Meerut district was made in 1980, with the establishment of Gangol Dugdh Utpadak Sahalcari Sangh Ltd., Meerut(DUSS) at Partapur (Meerut). The Sangh (Union)continued to function under the control of Feeder Balancing Dairy (FBD), set up in 1978 till late 1986, after which the Union started functioning inde- pendently. The Operation Flood-II was implemented in the district in 1982 and the area of jurisdiction of Meerut milkshed was reduced to Meerut district only in view of increase in the number of functional societies and increase in the quantity of milk handled. The per- formance of dairy co-operatives in Meerut district since 1980-81 is presented in Table 1. TABLE 1. PERFORMANCE OF DAIRY CO-OPERATIVES IN MEERUT DISTRICT Year Number Total Average Average Emer- Artificial Number Number Quantity of Quantity of func- member- milk milk gency insemi- of artifi- of calves animal of fodder tional ship procure- procure- veteri- nation cial inse- born feed sold seed sold societies ment per ment per nary centres mination (tons) (quintals) day (kg) day per cases cases society attended (kg) • (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) 1980-81 280 15,431 42,454 152 864 18 1,300 698.00 1981-82 329 17,080 40,622 123 1,195 27 1,754 638 936.50 1982-83 383 19,833 54,826 143 1,627 58 3,174 589 2,048.70 4.50 1983-84 318 24,889 30,999 97 1,055 92 4,895 663 1,997.70 85.00 1984-85 370 29,760 47,210 128 1,669 120 9,065 733 1,188.00 79.00 1985-86 455 37,655 70,663 155 3,010 128 12,825 1,641 2,155.80 266.00 1986-87 494 41,747 52,882 107 3,692 146 16,924 2,521 1,935.50 177.37 1987-88 433 42,230 33,379 77 3,098 137 17,101 3,819 2,932.40 17.56 1988-89 422 42,380 30,636 69 3,609 122 18,580 3,636 418.50 53.05 1989-90 401 43,646 41,731 104 5,322 120 21,417 5,038 593.50 69.90 1990-91 395 44,495 36,328 92 6,097 126 26,329 5,173 1,663.20 203.78 1991-92 435 44,724 47,955 110 5,160 120 28,697 4,214 1,062.50 116.67 1992-93 462 44,944 61,736 134 462 120 35,481 8,038 1,825.10 286.05 1993-94 465 44,937 47,253 102 1,984 120 39,113 7,431 2,663.05 394.45 Source: Gangol Milk Producers' Co-operative Union Ltd., Meerut. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE The DUSS, Meerut, is entrusted with various tasks relating to dairy development in the district.The Union is federated with the apex body at the state level,the PCDF,and is closely working with the National Milk Grid(NMG) and the State Milk Grid(SMG). Its activities include organisation of village dairy co-operatives (VDCs), operating chilling plants, receiving milk from sister DUSSs under SMG, handling and processing milk at FBD, supplying dairy products to consumers through NMG,SMG, Regional Marketing Office (RMO)and city supply network, manufacture and supply of animal feed and seed offodder crops to members,undertake veterinary services,launching and monitoring various schemes 746 INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS like Co-operative Development Programme,Technology Mission on Dairy Development, Mini Dairy Scheme,etc. The FBD,the DUSS maintains, has a capacity to handle six lakh litres of Ina and is the biggest dairy in North India. To carry out its various activities the DUSS has developed an organisational set-up, headed by the General Body. The General Manager assists the Chairman, DUSS who in turn assists the Board ofDirectors. For organising/carrying out various activities,the General Manager is assisted by Managers,looking after the work of administration,factory, quality control, accounts and finance, engineering, transport, stores and purchase, management information system, procurement and technical inputs, etc. The entire milkshed is divided into 14 routes.The number ofsocieties per route is decided by the grade level of manager heading the route. Manager Grade ifi heads a route having upto 100 VDCs while Manager Grade IV or Senior Field Supervisor heads a route having not more than 50 VDCs.Each route in charge is assisted by Field Supervisors and a Manager (veterinary services). A field supervisor looks after 20 VDCs,if provided with a vehicle or else 15 VDCs.He keeps a direct liaison with the organisation of VDCs. A VDC is managed by a committee of nine elected members,one of them is elected as chairman. Only member milk producers are eligible for election to the committee. The term of elected members is five years. Each VDC is served by a secretary who is a paid employee of the society. The salary of the secretary varies according to the level of milk procurement. The VDCs under the jurisdiction of DUSS, Meerut,- are specialised co-operatives, engaged in milk collection business. The number offunctional VDCs has gone up from 280 in 1980-81 to 465 in 1993-94.The estimated time trend equation on the number offunctional VDCs is found as follows: Y = 333.43 + 10.70*T R2= 0.52 (2.96) An examination of the coverage of membership of milk producers in VDCs reveals that during the period 1980-81 to 1993-94, the total membership increased from 15,431 to 44,937. The estimated time trend equation is given below: Y = 19047.48 + 2495.45*T R2 = 0.84 (310.08) * Significant at 1 per cent level. The figure in parenthesis is standard error. The performance of DUSS, Meerut, in terms of coverage of societies and coverage of membership, may, therefore, be rated as highly satisfactory.