A new White Revolution in dairy sector: Where India stands, where it aims to be

Dairy cooperatives procured 660 lakh kg of milk per day in 2023-24; the government wants to increase this to 1,007 lakh kg/ day by 2028-29. For this, it has formulated a strategy of expanding coverage and deepening the reach of cooperatives.

White Revolution 2.0 will “increase milk procurement of dairy cooperatives by 50%…over the next five years by providing market access to dairy farmers in uncovered areas and increasing the share of dairy cooperatives in the organised sector”, according to the Ministry of Cooperation.

This will also generate employment and contribute to the empowerment of women in the process, the ministry said.

Scope for expansion

Since it was created in 2021, the Ministry of Cooperation has focused on expanding the network of cooperatives, in particular dairy cooperatives.

According to officials of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), the regulator of the dairy industry in India, dairy cooperatives operate in around 70% of the country’s districts. There are about 1.7 lakh dairy cooperative societies (DCSs), which cover around 2 lakh villages (30% of the total number of villages in the country), and 22% of producer households. These cooperative societies procure about 10% of the country’s milk production and 16% of the marketable surplus.

In the states of Gujarat, Kerala, and Sikkim, and the Union Territory of Puducherry, more than 70% of villages are covered by dairy cooperatives. In the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh, and the UT of Jammu & Kashmir, however, coverage is only 10-20%. And in West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, and the smaller states of the Northeast, less than 10% of villages are covered.

Coverage, funding

NDDB has drawn up an action plan to establish about 56,000 new multipurpose dairy cooperative societies over the next five years, and to strengthen 46,000 existing village level DCSs by providing more advanced milk procurement and testing infrastructure. Most of the new DCSs will be established in Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh.

In February 2023, NDDB launched a Rs 3.8 crore pilot project to set up dairy cooperatives in uncovered gram panchayats in the districts of Jind (Haryana), Indore (Madhya Pradesh), and Chikmagalur (Karnataka). The 79 DCSs established as part of the pilot are together procuring 15,000 litres of milk per day from about 2,500 farmers, sources in the Cooperation Ministry said.

The bulk of the funding for White Revolution 2.0 will come through the National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD) 2.0, a new central sector scheme under the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

Sources in the Ministry of Cooperation said targets for White Revolution 2.0 have been subsumed under the proposed scheme, the details of which are currently being finalised. A draft note has been circulated for approval from the Expenditure Finance Committee, they said.

Under the scheme, financial assistance will be provided to set up village-level milk procurement systems, chilling facilities, and training and capacity-building. “Assistance will be provided to 1,000 Multipurpose Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperative Societies (MPACSs) at the rate of Rs 40,000 per MPACS from the resources of NDDB,” an official said.

According to officials of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), the regulator of the dairy industry in India, dairy cooperatives operate in around 70% of the country’s districts. (Express Photo)

Where India stands on milk production

India is the world’s top milk producer, with production having reached 230.58 million tonnes during 2022-23. In 1951-52, the country produced just 17 million tonnes of milk.

The average yield is, however, only 8.55 kg per animal per day for exotic/ crossbred animals, and 3.44 kg/ animal/ day for indigenous/ nondescript animals. The yield in Punjab is 13.49 kg/ animal/ day (exotic/ crossbreed), but only 6.30 kg/ animal/ day in West Bengal.

The national per capita availability of milk is 459 grams/ day, which is higher than the global average of 323 g/ day; this number, however, varies from 329 g in Maharashtra to 1,283 g in Punjab.

As per the Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics (BAHS) 2023, the top five milk producing states are UP (15.72%), Rajasthan (14.44%), Madhya Pradesh (8.73%), Gujarat (7.49%), and Andhra Pradesh (6.70%), which together contribute 53.08% of the country’s total milk production.

Almost 31.94% of the total milk production comes from indigenous buffaloes, followed by 29.81% from crossbred cattle. Nondescript buffaloes contribute 12.87%, indigenous cattle 10.73%, and nondescript cattle 9.51%, according to BAHS figures. The share of goat milk is 3.30%, and that of exotic cows, 1.86%.

While total milk production increased from 187.75 million tonnes in 2018-19 to 230.58 million tonnes in 2022-23, the annual growth rate of production came down from 6.47% to 3.83% during this period.

The milk group, comprising milk consumed or sold in liquid form, ghee, butter, and lassi produced by producer households contributed almost 40% (Rs 11.16 lakh crore) of the value of output from the agriculture, livestock, forestry, and fishing sector in 2022-23 — much higher than cereals. The dairy sector provides livelihoods to more than 8.5 crore people directly or indirectly, of whom the majority are women.

About 63% of the total milk production comes to the market; the remaining is kept by producers for their own consumption. About two-thirds of the marketable milk is in the unorganised sector. In the organised sector, cooperatives account for the major share.