Rajkot: camels have sailed back to calculations in the Gujarat milk industry as a decent choice.
The newly found “asset label” has lured the Kutch youth like Nagji Rabari (25), a resident of Kanmer Rapar Taluka Village to invest in a 40-camel fleet in the past two years – animals buy far from the Dwarka and Jamnagar district too.
But it wasn’t so up to five years ago, when camels really proved to be ‘white elephants’ for farmers on dry ground.
Nagji, the son of a camel farmer, who used to encourage commercial vehicles, has sold their livestock five years ago, frustrated with low-income camel milk that guarantees them.
But, magic happens in milk and driven by the ‘new white revolution’, camel milk sold at Rs 50 per liter, began to take whatever between Rs 40,000 and 1 lakh every month.
Nice prices inspired Nagji, and many more people like it, to invest in the camel again.
And many camel farmers from the Nomad community buy camels from Jamnagar, Patan and Rajasthan in the past year.
According to a rough estimate of 170 camels were taken to Kutch in the past year.
The price of one camel is between RS 35,000 and Rs 50,000 depends on milk production capacity.
“When my father sold milk, he got a trivial 10-15 RS per liter of restaurant owner.
But after Sarhad Dairy started mass procurement, we got Rs 50 per liter, which was a very profitable profession right now.” And so did Sura Rabari from the village of Beru Nakhatrana, who was too aware of the possibility of good income and invested in 40 camels from Patan four months ago.
“From 40, we sell a few.
Only 100 camels brought to nakhatrana taluka from other parts,” he said.
“There were 18 young men who left another profession to join camel farms after finding it profitable.
Even those who have sold their fleets now buy new MANSH camels,” said Mahendra Bhanani, the UNTA Sahjeevan program coordinator, a voluntary organization.
Some like Asha Rabrai from Daban village in Nakhatrana even sold 15 camels to buy 15 camels.
Sarpanch from Gagan Village, Hira Rabari, who himself brought 40 camels and sold 15, said, “We have a cooperative structure that should give us loans with low interest to buy camels.” Meanwhile, the first cooperative community of India from the camel farmer, which was formed a few years ago and is now dead, has been revived after breast milk began to get local interest.
Union created two milk collecting centers and carrying machines to check the fat and other milk standards they sold to Sarhad Dairy.
The milk holds around 3,000 liters every day and pays Rs 51 per liter.