India ray of hope of dairy industry with opportunities galore: Giriraj Singh

Addressing the august gathering Shri Singh thanked Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for protecting the interest of 10 crore farmers by not joining Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

The Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying Shri Giriraj Singh today addressed entrepreneurs, milk producer farmers, academia and media on the occasion of National Milk Day-2019 at Pusa in New Delhi. Addressing the august gathering Shri Singh thanked Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for protecting the interest of 10 crore farmers by not joining Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). He said that Prime Minister has always given the prime importance to the betterment of "Gaon Gareeb Kisaan" and RCEP was not in favor of farmers (Kisaan). Shri Singh further added that PM Modi had said that he cannot turn away from the needs of India's farmers.

Shri Giriraj Singh stated that milk production has increased significantly from 137.7 million tonnes in 2013-14 to 187.75 million tonnes in 2018-19, thereby indicating an increase of 36.35%. Similarly, the per capita availability of milk increased from 307 grams in 2013-14 to 394 grams in 2018-19. The annual growth rate of Milk Production during the period 2009-14 was 4.2%, which has increased to 6.4% during 2014-19. The annual growth rate of world milk production has increased by 1.2% during 2014-19. The Union Minister added that India is the ray of hope of the global dairy industry with opportunities galore for the entrepreneurs globally. Since the last 20 years, India continues to be the largest producer of milk in the world. This phenomenal increase is due to several measures initiated by the Union Government to increase the productivity of livestock.

Shri Singh also said that the Livestock sector contributes significantly towards livelihoods and security net for the landless and marginal farmers. About 70 million rural households are engaged in dairying in India with 80% of the total cow population. During the last 15 years, Milk Cooperatives have converted about 20% of milk procured into traditional and value-added products that offer about 20% higher revenue. This share of value-added products is estimated to increase to 40% by 2023-24.

Addressing the gathering, Minister of State, Shri Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said that the 6.5% growth rate is still low due to the base effect but this will change as the Ministry is ensuring all policies and schemes are being formulated for improving the quality of livestock and quantity of milk. Shri Balyan thanks PM Modi for setting up a separate Ministry for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying so that emphasis can be laid on their development. He said that resources of the Government are limited and the private sector should also support the initiatives of the Government. Shri Balyan also said that there is a perception in the minds of the people about milk adulteration and it needs to be changed.

Minister of State, Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi said that technology should be harnessed properly for improvement of the sector overall. He said that breed improvement can be done in innovative ways. He also said that policies should be made favorably to ensure both the quality and quantity of domestic production, consumption and exports can be improved.

The Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying emphasized that Government has initiated a number of dairy development schemes in order to meet the enhanced demand of milk through domestic sources by laying special emphasis on raising milk production through improved productivity and health of our dairy animals. In this direction, a new scheme has been launched by the Prime Minister called "National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP)" with an allocation of Rs.13343 crores for complete control of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Brucellosis in the country. Nationwide Artificial Insemination Programme for enhancing AI coverage thereby increasing milk production and productivity was also launched by the Prime Minister along with Start-up challenges. The Department is also working on the convergence of schemes with the schemes of other Departments and Ministries so as to double farmers' income.

(With Inputs from PIB)