Amit Shah Inaugurates Workshop on Sustainability and Circularity in Dairy Sector

In his address, Shri Amit Shah emphasized the significance of sustainability and circularity as India moves towards White Revolution 2.0.

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah, inaugurated the "Workshop on Sustainability and Circularity in Dairy Sector" in New Delhi. The event, organized by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) in collaboration with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), aimed to promote sustainable practices, efficiency, and resource circularity in the dairy industry to support Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's vision of 'Sahkar se Samriddhi'.

White Revolution 2.0: A Sustainable Approach

In his address, Shri Amit Shah emphasized the significance of sustainability and circularity as India moves towards White Revolution 2.0. While the first White Revolution significantly boosted milk production, the next phase aims to integrate sustainable practices and resource efficiency from the outset.

Shri Shah highlighted the crucial role of the dairy sector in India’s rural economy, providing livelihoods to landless and small farmers, improving national nutrition levels, and making India the world’s largest milk producer. The sector has not only strengthened rural prosperity but has also become a key contributor to farmers’ additional income beyond agriculture.

Dairy Sector’s Role in Economic Growth

The Union Minister underscored the dairy sector’s contribution to achieving the national economic goals set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which include:

• Transforming India into a $5 trillion economy
• Becoming the third-largest economy in the world
• Achieving full development status by 2047

Shri Shah urged stakeholders to develop mechanisms for maximizing the potential of every sector, including dairy. The workshop played a pivotal role in sharing best practices on circularity with 250 milk producer associations across the country.

Dairy as a Solution to Rural Migration

Shri Amit Shah noted that India's agricultural system is largely dependent on small farmers, and rural-to-urban migration is often linked to financial constraints. By strengthening dairy farming, rural migration can be minimized, ensuring prosperity for small farmers. He stressed the need for a holistic approach to fully explore the opportunities within the dairy industry.

Farm-to-Factory Model and Cooperative Strengthening

Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, the past decade has seen significant strides in agricultural growth. Shri Shah highlighted the importance of establishing a farm-to-factory value chain within villages to enhance small farmers’ prosperity.

The government’s cooperative initiatives aim to boost collective success and cooperative banking. Shri Shah cited Gujarat’s Micro ATM model as a successful example, providing financial benefits to livestock farmers. He urged NABARD to replicate this model across all districts in India.

Circular Economy in Dairy: A New Roadmap

During the event, the "Margdarshika" guide on circularity in the dairy sector was released, along with new NDDB financial assistance schemes for biogas projects. Shri Shah emphasized the need to expand cooperative networks to include farmers currently supplying private dairies. He suggested cooperative management of cow dung to resolve viability challenges and attract more farmers back to the cooperative fold.

A two-year action plan was proposed to implement successful biogas production models in 250 district milk unions. Additionally, Shri Shah called for developing a scientific cooperative framework for carbon credit distribution to ensure direct farmer benefits.

Expanding Cooperative Dairy Networks

The Minister outlined ambitious expansion plans for White Revolution 2.0, which include:

• Establishing state-level unions in every state and union territory
• Forming milk unions in 80% of the country’s districts
• Tripling the number of marketing dairies from the current 28

Currently, 75% of consumer dairy spending in the cooperative sector directly benefits farmers, compared to only 32% in the corporate sector. Shri Shah called for efforts to bridge this profit gap while utilizing 16 crore tonnes of cow dung for cooperative benefits.

Women Empowerment in the Dairy Sector

Highlighting the role of women in dairy cooperatives, Shri Shah pointed out that 72% of the workforce in cooperative dairy enterprises consists of women. This sector has become a powerful tool for women’s employment and empowerment, demonstrating the potential of cooperative models in ensuring inclusive growth.

Conclusion

The workshop, attended by Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Ministers of State Professor S.P. Singh Baghel and Shri George Kurien, Secretary Smt. Alka Upadhyay, and other dignitaries, underscored the collective efforts towards a more sustainable and efficient dairy sector. Shri Amit Shah reiterated the government’s commitment to promoting sustainability, circularity, and cooperative growth in dairy farming as part of India’s broader economic and agricultural development vision.