Addressing the media at the Constitution Club in Delhi on Thursday, Union Minister Parshottam Rupala said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had consented to inaugurate the International Dairy Federation’s World Summit slated from September 12-15 in Greater Noida. The IDF is holding a conference in India after a gap of 48 years.
Accompanied by NDDB Chairman Meenesh Shah and the Chairman and DG of international dairy body IDF, Rupala said that the role of dairy in empowering people could be understood from the fact that PM Modi readily agreed to attend the event despite his tight schedule. “And the fact that this global event is taking place at a time when India is surging ahead in the global economy makes it all the more important”, he underlined.
Calling the Indian dairy co-op movement unique, Rupala said that it could be a lesson for the world as it improves the lives of crores of people unlike that in the west. The Dairy co-op movement is empowering people and in the case of Amul, 85% profit is shared with farmers while for the rest of the dairy co-ops, the average is 75%, informed the Minister.
Later talking to the media NDDB Chairman Meenesh Shah said India accounts for 23 percent of global milk production bringing together 8 crore dairy farmers producing 210 MT annually. Offering a detailed comparison between Indian dairy farmers and that of their western cousins, Meenesh Shah said “if we have to learn from them, they also have quite a lot to learn from us”.
“Today our dairy industry is growing at 6%, while the global average is 2%; we are three times ahead of the rest of the world. The Indian dairy industry is also pushing the global rate”, said a proud Chairman underlining the role of the co-operative movement in the dairy sector.
Besides Rupala and Shah, those present included Piercristiano Brazzale, President, International Dairy Federation (IDF), Ms Caroline Emond, Director General, IDF, Jatinder Nath Swain. The event is being coordinated by the Ministry and NDDB.
The event has received an overwhelming response from all across the world. Around 1500 participants from 50 countries have enrolled for participation in IDF WDS 2022. There are a sizable number of registrations for physical participation from the United States of America, France, Germany, Canada, New Zealand and Belgium.
Main sponsors of the event are “AMUL (Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation)” & “Nandini (Karnataka Milk Federation)”. The event is also sponsored by Mother Dairy, Delhi (MDFVPL), a wholly owned subsidiary company of NDDB.
A press release from NDDB reads “The World Dairy Summit will be a great opportunity for dairy farmers, leaders, experts, scientists, professionals. journalists and academics to learn, connect and get inspired. India’s success story will be shared with the world through the IDF World Dairy Summit, where we can see how dairy is an engine of development and women empowerment.”
Those likely to be present in the Summit include Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Bhupendrabhai Patel, Chief Minister of Gujarat.
The summit will have 24 sessions centred around the theme “Dairy for Nutrition and Livelihood” covering different aspects of dairying. Three parallel technical sessions would be held for which more than 150 overseas and Indian speakers have been empanelled. A poster session is also being organized with the theme “Innovations across Dairy Value Chain – Aligning with UN SDGs”.
