Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said India’s dairy sector is a unique model for world, run mostly by women and small farmers, who have made the country the largest milk producing nation globally.
The prime minister, inaugurating the International Dairy Federation’s World Dairy Summit in Greater Noida, said fast digital payments directly to farmers’ account, a cooperative model and a business run mostly by women represent a model that can be an example for many countries.
Welcoming the delegates, Modi said the summit will also give an opportunity for Indian dairy farmers to interact and learn from others.
Listing four rare characteristics of India’s dairy farming, Modi said: “Cattle wealth and the milk business has been an integral part of our history for over 1000 years. Our dairy sector’s strengths come from its unique characteristics.”
“It’s different. It is powered by small farmers. It’s not about mass production, but production by masses.” Most farmers have “one, two or three animals”.
The farmers are connected to the market through a cooperative.
{{/usCountry}}The farmers are connected to the market through a cooperative.
{{/usCountry}}India’s dairy sector has nearly 190000 cooperatives that source milk supply on a daily basis from farmers, making it the largest such dairy business model in the wold. The popular dairy and chocolate brand Amul is a cooperative-based producer.
India’s milk output had risen 44% from 146 million tonne in 2014 to 210 million tonne currently, Modi said, adding that the rate of growth, at 6%, was higher than the world average of about 2%.
The prime minister said the dairy summit comes at a time when India had completed 75 years of independence and it is a “great coincidence” that 75 lakh (7.5 million) farmers were connected to this event live, even as he spoke.
Prior to the 1970s, dairy farmers were mostly impoverished, with no remunerative returns with a supply chain filled with middlemen. This changed when India adopted a three-tier cooperative model with the implementations of the so-called Operation Flood devised by V Kurien, known as the milkman of India, turning the country self-sufficient in milk output.
India has embarked on a project to give unique biometric identities to cattle, a project called Pashu Aadhaar, for better management and animal husbandry practices, Modi said, adding the country had recently developed an indigenous vaccine for lumpy skin disease, an epidemic that has gripped many states.
“The second uniqueness of our dairy sector is the cooperative system. There is a vast cooperative network whose example is hard to find anywhere else.” In nearly 200,000 villages, nearly 20 million farmers milk their cattle twice a day and their produce reaches consumers without any middlemen, Modi said.
Indigenous breeds of “climate comfortable” cattle, such as buffaloes and cows, were the third exception, Modi said. “I would like to give you the example of the Banni breed of buffaloes of Gujarat. Because the climate in the Kutch region is tough and days are very hot, these cattle graze at night. They need less water. They don’t need to watched and they find their way back home on their own next morning,” the PM said.
He also referred to local cow breeds, such as Sahiwal, Gir, Sahiwal, Rathi, Kamgre and Tharparkar, which were well adapted to tough climate and provides the dairy sector with resilience.
Local breeds of cattle are known for their adaptability to tropical climates. The total number of indigenous cattle has declined by 6% to 140 million in 2019 from 150 million in 2012, according to a report released by the ministry of animal husbandry last month.
“The fourth strength is one that is often not well recognized, which is women power. Nari Shakti is the driving force. Women comprise 70% of the dairy workforce,” Modi said. Over one-third of members in milk cooperatives were women, he said.
The prime minister also talked about biogas projects and manures from cow dung being used for natural farming.