Dairy Sector in India is one of the most promising sector. It not only boosts farmers’ income but also fulfills the protein requirements of Indians who are skewed towards a vegetarian diet pattern. In India, dairy is the single largest agricultural commodity. It contributes 5 percent to the national economy and directly employs more than 8 crore farmers. To further boost the productivity of the sector and add value, the government of India has given a thrust to it. The policies and initiatives by the government in the dairy sector have been discussed in this article.
Dairy Sector in India: Analysing The Performance of The ‘Protein Powerhouse’
India dominates the dairy sector globally. It ranks first in milk production and contributes 25 percent to the world’s total milk output. India’s milk production has grown remarkably over the past decade. It has grown with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6 percent. In the meantime, the production of milk in India has risen from 187.30 million tonnes in 2018-19 to 230.58 million tonnes in 2022-23. The per capita availability of milk in India stands at 459 grams per day for 2022-23. It is higher than the global average of 322 grams per day. The processing of this vast amount of raw milk underscores the efficiency and productivity of the Indian dairy industry.
Milk Processing Associations in India
India has made significant strides in the cooperative sector, particularly in the dairy processing sector. The country has 22 Milk Federations/Apex Bodies, 240 district cooperative milk unions, 28 marketing dairies, and 24 Milk Producer Organizations. These organizations cover approximately 230,000 villages and have 18 million dairy farmers as members.
Women Empowerment
There is a notable aspect of India’s dairy industry. The sector has a substantial involvement of women, with 35 percent of women participating in dairy cooperatives. There are more than 48,000 women’s dairy cooperative societies that are operational at the village level nationwide. It fosters inclusive growth and empowers women in rural areas.
Dairy Sector in India: Analysing The Government’s Initiatives and Policies
The Government of India has taken a number of initiatives to boost the dairy sector in India. These steps include the creation of modern infrastructure, state-of-the-art dairy processing facilities, and infrastructure for forward and backward linkages to the dairy sector.
Rashtriya Gokul Mission
The scheme was initiated in December 2014, exclusively for the development and conservation of indigenous bovine breeds in a scientific, holistic manner. Under this mission, the country’s Nationwide Artificial Insemination Programme (NAIP) was implemented to enhance Artificial Insemination Coverage from the present 30% to 70%. It aims to deliver Artificial Insemination services free of cost at the farmer’s doorstep. In order to achieve faster genetic upgradation of the bovine population, bovine IVF Technology is being promoted by the Department. Sex sorted semen production has been introduced in the country for the production of only female calves up to 90% accuracy.
National Programme for Dairy Development
The scheme aims to create/strengthen the infrastructure for the Production of quality milk, Procurement, Processing, and Marketing of Milk & Milk Products through the State Implementing Agency (SIA), i.e, State Cooperative Dairy Federation. The NPDD scheme aims to enhance the quality of milk and milk products and increase the share of organised procurement, processing, value addition, and marketing. Under the scheme, 17.45 lakh new farmers were given the benefit of membership of dairy co-operative societies. Further, 83.56 lakh litres of additional milk were procured under the projects.
Addition of Milk Processing Capacity
The scheme has helped in the addition of about 24.82 lakh litres per day of new milk processing capacity. It has also provided for 4193 Bulk Milk Coolers with 94.12 lakh litres chilling capacity creation at village-level milk collection centres.
Quality Inspections Infrastructure
In addition, the scheme has provided for the installation of 6022 Electronic Milk Adulteration Testing Machines, 33854 Automatic Milk Collection Units with Milk Analyser, and 4017 Milk Analysers for testing and ensuring the quality of milk at the collection point itself. It has also helped in the establishment of about 233 dairy plant laboratories to detect adulterants in milk & milk products. The scheme has also provided funds for about 10 State and Central laboratories. These laboratories will work for the detection of residues, contaminants, heavy metals, adulterants, chemical, and microbiological quality of milk and milk products.
Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund
AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan stimulus package provided for the establishment of Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF). The scheme aims to incentivize investments by individual entrepreneurs, private companies, MSMEs, Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs), and Section 8 companies. It aims to establish:
- The dairy processing and value addition infrastructure,
- Meat processing and value addition infrastructure, and
- Animal Feed Plant.
- Breed improvement, Technology, and Breed Multiplication farms.
The scheme aims to enhance the milk and meat processing capacity and product diversification. Overall, it provides greater access for unorganized rural milk and meat producers to the organized market. It also helps in price realization for the producer, availability of quality products for the domestic consumer, generating entrepreneurs, promoting exports, quality, and cheap animal feeds, and to availability of quality protein-rich food to the Indian consumer.
KISAN CREDIT CARDS (KCC) for Dairy Farmers Of Milk Cooperatives And Milk Producer Companies
This facility enables easy and increased access to institutionalized credit facilities for dairy farmers. This facility helps farmers to offset losses and ensure a regular supply of milk to processing facilities.
Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF)
DIDF is an Infrastructure Development Scheme that aims to modernize milk processing and chilling plants and enhance value addition. The scheme aims to benefit milk producers, providing them with an organized market for their produce and employment opportunities in the project areas. The scheme covered approximately 12.52 lakh women milk producers out of a total of 42.48 lakh producer members, with significant participation of 30%.
Merged With AHIDF
The DIDF scheme has now become part of the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund. Now, the scheme has got an extension for the next two years (2024-2026) with an outlay of Rs 29,110.25 crore.
Ensuring Participation of Women
The scheme has provided indirect benefits to milk producers to date. The revised scheme has now provided women dairy farmers the opportunity to establish a dairy industry as individual entrepreneurs under AHIDF.
Way Forward
The Government of India has launched a large number of schemes to support dairy processing at the grassroots level. These schemes have led India to become the largest milk producer in the world, having 25% of the total milk production. India has been the leading milk producer in the world since 1998. It is the state-of-the-art milk processing and procurement infrastructure aided by the government’s policy, which has helped it to achieve the feat.