Sunita Wankhede.

The farm diary

“My daughter keeps the records now. Every litre, every rupee.”

Written with Sunita · photographed at Umred, Sep 2026

Sunita started with three buffaloes after her husband moved to the city for work. For years she sold to a middleman who came by scooter and paid by the week, when he remembered.Sunita started with three buffaloes after her husband moved to the city for work. For years she sold to a middleman who came by scooter and paid by the week, when he remembered.

Sunita started with three buffaloes after her husband moved to the city for work. For years she sold to a middleman who came by scooter and paid by the week, when he remembered.Sunita started with three buffaloes after her husband moved to the city for work. For years she sold to a middleman who came by scooter and paid by the week, when he remembered.

Her herd is nine now, and her daughter Pallavi keeps a ledger of every milking: litres, fat reading, which buffalo was off her feed. The milk reaches our Umred centre by 6 AM and is tested before it is chilled.

The buffaloes wallow in the farm pond every afternoon in summer. “They give more when they are cool,” Sunita says, “and they are happier, which matters more.”