A QUIET REVOLUTION: THE JOURNEY OF THE SRINIVASAN SERVICES TRUST
 
By Paula Richter
I had to give myself sometime before writing this last entry. I wanted some time to pass, as it is difficult for me to reflect on the summer, at my initial departure.
I was not prepared to leave India. I did not want it to be over, as the project came to a close. I had more and more questions about the research. I could have spent several more months furthering my research, dairying in India is ubiquitous, it has roots in the lives of many Indians and there is so much to be learned. The interventions both adopted by SST and the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries are impactful � dairy farmers stand a lot to gain from artificially inseminating, vaccinating, and providing quality feed and fodder. I feel fortunate that I was able to witness the impacts of such interventions.
While the report is still going through draft revisions, my preliminary analysis suggests that the monetary returns for the SST farmers is much higher than farmers who do not use or underutilize the said livestock practices. While that may not come as a shock, what is surprising are the various perceptions of risk with respect to certain interventions. Many of the non-SST farmers rated certain practices as being irrelevant to their farming and did not adopt these practices regularly. In addition, some of the practices that were seen as relevant were also not adopted, perhaps as result of the associated costs. Understanding perceived risk and attitudes towards certain practices is useful in tailoring approaches to prospective villages and communities.