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India trails most nations in cattle productivity: Parliament panel report
India's dairy sector struggles with low cattle productivity, trailing behind global competitors despite initiatives like the Rashtriya Gokul Mission.
Productivity of India’s indigenous cattle lags behind most economies with significant dairy sectors, despite the marquee Rashtriya Gokul Mission, a federal programme for breed improvement, data cited in a parliamentary panel’s report has shown.
The huge gap in annual milk output per animal, even though India is the world’s largest milk producer, is one of the reasons why it would be challenging for the country’s dairy sector to compete globally, analysts said.
India’s total milk output, at 249 million tonnes in 2024, has grown by a robust 6% over the past decade on average. However, on a per animal basis, annual productivity is expected to grow to just 3000 kg by 2029-30, the report said.
The total productivity of US cattle — at 10,954 kg annually — is over five times India’s 1,948 kg per year, the animal husbandry department-supplied figures in the parliamentary report showed.
The efficiency gap makes US dairy giants far more competitive and therefore India will naturally be hesitant in opening up its dairy sector to large corporations, said Virat Seshadri, a dairy expert and former consultant with the Food and Agricultural Organisation.
India is said to have kept its vast but sensitive agricultural sector off-limits for potential US exporters during the recent unsuccessful trade negotiations with Washington. Trump responded with a total 50% effective tariff on Indian shipments to the US.
New Zealand’s milk yields outstrip India’s by 128%, while Denmark’s output per animal stands at 10,187 kgs per year, the report said.
Indigenous breeds of cows are well acclimatized to Indian conditions and can survive harsh climatic conditions without affecting their performance, the panel noted in its 14th report, “Role of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) for Protection and Development of Indigenous Cattle Breeds”, tabled in Lok Sabha last Wednesday.
The yearly productivity increase of indigenous breeds, such as gir, has gone up from 3.25 kg per day in 2013-14 to 4.17 kgs in 2022-23, the dairy department told the parliamentary panel, according to the report. This pace has been the fastest globally, mainly because of a very low previous base.
India’s vast dairy business that runs on a successful cooperative model is mostly driven by small farmers. According to the government’s Economic Survey of 2021-22, of the total milk produced in rural areas, the marketable surplus is nearly 52%. Of this, “less than half of the milk sold is handled by the organised sector comprising dairy cooperatives and private dairy enterprises, while the rest is handled by the unorganised sector”.
The Modi government had launched the Rashtriya Gokul Mission in 2014 for development and conservation of indigenous breeds, genetic upgradation and enhancement of milk productivity, covering 53 breeds.
