Indian Economy News

New dairy projects announced to boost milk output

  • Livemint" target="_blank">Livemint
  • November 24, 2014

New Delhi: In a bid to boost milk output in the country and increase per-animal production of milk, the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) on Friday announced 42 dairy projects with a financial outlay of Rs221 crore.

These projects will be spread across 14 major milk producing states-Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Kerala, which account for 90% of the nation's milk production.

The projects were sanctioned under the National Dairy Plan-I, which was launched during March 2012 for implementation during 2011-12 to 2016-17. Of the Rs221 crore alloted for the projects, Bihar, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh's home state, has been alloted Rs26 crore.

The projects will help increase the productivity of milch animals and meet the rapidly growing demand for milk. It will also provide milk producers in rural areas with greater access to the organized milk-processing sector, the ministry said in a statement.

With an annual output of 130 million tonnes, India is the largest producer of the milk in the world. It also has the largest milk-producing animal population of over 118 million. However, milk yields per animal are among the lowest in the world.

Compared with 18 kg of milk per day per animal in the European Union and about 27 kg per day per animal in the US, native Indian cows produce just about 2.36 kg of milk in a day. The average milk yield of crossbred and exotic cows is a little over 7 kg and for buffaloes, 4.8 kg.

The per capita availability of milk in India grew at a snail's pace, from 178 gm per day in 1991-92 to 290 gm per day in 2011-12.

Milk productivity per animal in India is low due to poor feeding practices and a lack of focus on breed improvement. The newly announced projects will address these concerns through activities like fodder development, ration balancing (feed management), village-based milk procurement, embryo transfer and import of bulls.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

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