Dr. Avnish Jolly, Gujarat, 5th November, 2008 :India with a total milk production of 102 million tonnes remained the largest milk producing country in 2007-08 with a share of close to 15 per cent of world milk production, A combination of factors, led by high growth of gross domestic product (GDP) in particular, has led to a rapid increase in the domestic demand for milk.
Producer prices for milk have continued to increase leading to a corresponding rise in consumer prices.
National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has proposed an Rs 17,300 crore draft National Dairy Plan to increase the country’s milk production from the current 102 million tonnes to meet the projected demand of 180 million tonnes by 2021-22.
NDDB proposed the draft plan in its annual report for 2007-08, a NDDB press release said here yesterday. NDDB has its headquarters here, also known as the milk capital of India, some 65 km from Ahmedabad, the principal city of Gujarat. The National Dairy Plan focuses on productivity measures to enhance milk production as the average annual incremental production will have to increase from 2.5 million tonnes now to five million tonnes over the next 15 years.
Besides, it also focuses on strengthening and expanding infrastructure to procure, process and market milk through existing and new institutional structures. The plan proposes to increase the share of the organised sector in milk production to 65 per cent from the current 30 per cent to ensure supply of quality milk to consumers.
Amrita Patel Chairman, NDDB’s said that NDDB remains committed to assisting dairy cooperatives to strengthen their business and provide better services to their members and NDDB is also implementing a complementary cooperative strategy by promoting producer institutions—new generation cooperatives—in about eight states.
According to release during the year, dairy cooperatives procured about 8.3 million tonnes of milk, registering an annual growth of 5.4 per cent and on an aggregate, cooperatives procured about 14 per cent of the national marketable milk surplus from around 21 per cent of the country’s villages and an estimated 18 per cent of rural milk-producing households. Cooperatives marketed about 6.9 million tonnes of liquid milk, an increase of 4.4 per cent over the previous year, the statement said.
Recognizing the importance of increasing productivity, NDDB provided a range of technical and managerial services, including establishing standards and protocols for quality bull and semen production. It also funded the production of genetically evaluated bulls through progeny testing, expansion of door-step artificial insemination (AI) services, ration balancing (which can also contribute to reduction in methane emission) amongst other services.