Inaugurating the International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit (IDF WDS) 2022 at India Expo Centre & Mart, in Greater Noida on Monday, Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi said the World Dairy Summit is going to be a great medium for the exchange of ideas. “The potential of the dairy sector not only gives impetus to the rural economy, but also stands out as a major source of livelihood for crores of people across the world”, he said.
Describing the Indian experience and putting it across very effectively, Modi said that India is today the largest producer of milk in the world and this achievement has been acquired on the strength of small farmers.
Addressing dairy innovators who have assembled from across the world, the Prime Minister said that the Indian dairy cooperative system, its digital payment system to farmers and indigenous breeds of cattle are something the world must take note of.
India’s dairy sector is characterized by “production by masses” more than “mass production”. This sector provides employment to more than 8 crore families in the country, he informed. There is such a huge network of Dairy Cooperative in India, and one cannot find such an example in the whole world elsewhere, Modi underlined.
Modi said that these dairy cooperatives collect milk twice a day from about two crore farmers in more than two lakh villages in the country and deliver it to the customers. There is no middleman in the entire process, and more than 70 per cent of the money received from customers goes directly into the pockets of the farmers, he said.
Another unique feature, according to the Prime Minister, is the indigenous breeds that can withstand many adverse circumstances. He gave the example of the sturdy buffalo breed of Banni Buffalo of the Kutch and some more.
The Prime Minister highlighted the power of women in the dairy sector, saying women have a 70% representation in the workforce in India’s dairy sector. “India produced 146 million tonnes of milk in 2014. It has now increased to 210 million tonnes.
That is, an increase of about 44 per cent”, the Prime Minister pointed out.
He also mentioned that as compared to the 2 per cent production growth at the global level, India is clocking more than 6 per cent. The Prime Minister said that the government is working on developing a blanched dairy ecosystem where challenges of sectors are being addressed along with a focus on increasing production.
Stressing the use of modern technology, the Prime Minister said that India is building the largest database of dairy animals and every animal associated with the dairy sector is being tagged. “We are doing biometric identification of animals. We have named it – Pashu Adhar”, he said.
Modi also stressed the growing entrepreneurial structures like FPAs and women self-help groups, and startups. He also said India is working toward universal vaccination of animals.
“India is working on a digital system which will capture the end-to-end activities of the livestock sector. This will provide accurate information needed to improve this sector”, Modi said.
“I invite the global leaders of the dairy industry to join the drive to empower the dairy sector in India. I also appreciate the International Dairy Federation for their excellent work and contribution”, the Prime Minister concluded.
Chief Minister of UP, Yogi Adityanath, Union Ministers Parshottam Rupala, Dr L Murugan, and Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, MPs Surendra Singh Nagar and Dr Mahesh Sharma, President and DG of IDF, NDDB Chairman were among those present on the occasion. 75 lakh farmers were connected with the event virtually.
