Dairy News
The native returns to help dairy farmers
Thursday, 02/06/2016VUJAYAWADA : Influenced by her father, she had dreams of helping small farmers
Dipti Pitta, brought up in the family of a man involved in animal husbandry for decades, always dreamt of assisting dairy farmers of India and helping them grow economically.
She is an Assistant Professor in Ruminant Nutrition, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and brought a team of experts all the way from the U.S. to Andhra Pradesh.
Murrah bulls
They have come with proposals to bring in advanced technologies and practices to develop the State as a hub of elite Murrah Bulls and also increase milk production.
Speaking about her journey from Visakhapatnam, her native city, to Pennsylvania, Ms. Dipti says she actually wanted to become a doctor but the influence of her father’s profession made her pursue veterinary sciences. “My father P. George Wilhelms retired as joint director in AP’s Animal Husbandry Department. Having specialised in meat science, he brought Yorkshire Pig into A.P. through an Indo-Swiss project. All his works inspired me to take veterinary sciences in the NG Ranga Agricultural University and later Ph.D. from Massey University, New Zealand, where I got exposed to advanced laboratories,” Ms. Dipti told The Hindu on the sidelines of the workshop ‘Milk Mission’ held in the city on Wednesday.
Animal science research
“Soon after pursuing post graduation in the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, I planned to come back to Hyderabad and work towards my dream of bringing change in dairy industry here. But my guides convinced me to do research in animal science and then return with more knowledge after which I have developed passion for ruminant production,” she added.
“Many farmers in India are dependant on milk-giving animals. There is great potential in improving indigenous breeds and increasing milk productivity of cows is possible through technology. It will help farmers socio-economically and that is my dream,” she said. “I am poised to uplift the small-scale farmers and it is the reason behind the proposal of an MoU with the State government,” she adds.
Ms. Dipti is part of the team which included Dr. David Galigan, Professor of Animal Health Economics, Dr. Victor Absalon Medina, Director, Large Animal Gamete and Embryo Manipulation Lab of the University and Mr. Brandon Webb, MD of Royal Atlantic Holdings, who presented the technology and practices available with them at the workshop.