India is the highest milk producing country: Report

CHANDIGARH, Dec 7: India is now the world's number one milk producing country with a record production level of 74 million tons per annum...

CHANDIGARH, Dec 7: India is now the world’s number one milk producing country with a record production level of 74 million tons per annum, displacing the United States, according to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Rome.

However, according to Krishan Goyal, member, Northern Regional Council CII, there is a growing constraint in quality attributes and hence there is a strong need to adopt rapid technological changes to carry out manufacturing of milk and milk products in an economically sustainable manner in India. Certain recommendations have emerged from deliberations in the "International Conference On Emerging Technologies In Dairy Industry" like better breeding, including embryo transfer technology in a commercially viable manner, better feeding, and better health services to improve the milk production. Other fields of improvement are hygiene and raw quality of milk by having milk cooling at production level and clean milk production.

There is a need for the adoption of High Temperature Short Time (HTST), sterlization of milk to have long shelf milk and milk products as India is a tropical country. Quality starter cultures for fermented dairy products should be used to add more value to milk and its theraputic values. Krishan Goyal added that newer, functional, probiotic dairy foods prevent or combat diseases like diarrhoea, reduce cholestrol, suppress cancer, stimulate immune system and are already very popular in the west.

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There is a need to introduce these products for the further development of the dairy farming industry in India," he informed. Another recommendation is that the Indian Dairy Industry should upgrade quality systems and adopt internationally recognised systems like ISO 9002 and HACCP to meet international competitiveness.

As the population of the world is expected to reach 7.2 billion mark by the end of another 15-20 years, there is the urgency to produce not only more but highly specialised, healthy food to serve to the market in future. Emphasis was also laid on changing the approach towards packing material and systems to make them more innovative and environment friendly.