| |||
Manyfarmers inIndia depend onanimal husbandry for their livelihood. In addition to supplyingmilk,meat,eggs, wool, their castings (dung) andhides,animals, mainlybullocks, are the major source of power for both farmers and dairies. Thus, animal husbandry plays an important role in therural economy. The gross value of output from this sector was 8,123 billion Rupees in FY 2015–16.[1]
In FY 2019, India had approximately 192.5 million cattle. India also had 148.9 milliongoats, 109.9 millionbuffaloes, 74.3 millionsheep, and 9.1 millionpigs.[2] Milk production in FY 2022-23 was estimated to have reached 230.58 million tons (459 (gms/day/capita) (increased from 221.06 million tonnes, and 444 gm/day/capita in 2021-22),[3] andegg production had reached a level of 138.38 billion eggs.[4] India is second largest country in production of cow milk[5] and largest milk production country.[6]
Dairy farming provided supplementary employment and an additional source of income to many small and marginal farmers. TheNational Dairy Development Board was established in 1965 under the auspices of Operation Flood atAnand, inGujarat, to promote, plan, and organize dairy development through cooperatives; to provide consultations; and to set up dairy plants, which were then turned over to the cooperatives. There were more than 63,000 Anand-style dairy cooperative societies with some 7.5 million members in the early 1990s. The milk produced and sold by these farmers brought₹320 million (US$3.8 million) a day, or more than₹10 trillion (US$118.3 billion) a year. The increase in milk production permitted India to end imports of powdered milk and milk-related products. In addition, 30,000 tons of powdered milk were exported annually to neighboring countries. There was about 50000 cows in India.[7]
Today, India has the world's largest dairy herd (composed of cows and buffaloes), at over 304 million strong,[8] and stands first in milk production, with 112.5 million tonnes of milk produced in 2009–2010.[8]
TheWhite Revolution, or Operation Flood, launched on 13 January 1970, was the world's largest dairy development programme and a landmark project of India' NDDB.[9] It transformed India from a milk-deficient nation into the world's largest milk producer, surpassing theUnited States in 1998 with about 22.29 per cent of global output in 2018.[10][11] Within 30 years, it doubled the milk available per person in India[12] and madedairy farming India's largest self-sustainable rural employment generator.[13] The programme was launched to help farmers direct their own development and to give them control of the resources they create. It also promotedJersey cows and heavily increasedlactose intolerance amongst Indians.[citation needed]
Verghese Kurien, the chairman and founder ofAmul, was named the Chairman of NDDB by Prime MinisterLal Bahadur Shastri. Kurien thrust the programme towards success and has since been recognised as its architect.[14] The making ofskimmed milk powder out ofbuffalo milk, termed theAnand Pattern Experiment atAmul, was also instrumental to the program's success; this was made possible byHarichand Megha Dalaya, alongside Kurien.[15][16] It allowed Amul to compete successfully with cow milk-based suppliers such asNestlé.India is also the third-largest egg-producer in the world, producing over 95 billion eggs for the year 2018,[17] and fifth biggest producer of beef.[18] While the majority of India's animal products are consumed domestically, exports are growing. India is the top global exporter of buffalo meat, and is also the fourth largest exporter of soybean meal, an important ingredient in commercial feed for farmed animals.[19] In addition, India's leading poultry producers, including Suguna, Venky's, and the Amrit Group, are increasing sales to countries in other parts of Asia and the Middle East. International investment is also expanding.[19] In 2008, U.S.-basedTyson Foods acquired a 51 percent stake in Godrej, an Indian conglomerate that is a major producer of animal feeds and poultry, and theInternational Finance Corporation (IFC) has an equity stake in Suguna.[19] An estimated 200 million egg-laying hens are kept inbattery cages, and more than half of the over two billion “meat” chickens produced each year are factory-farmed. Vertical integration and contract farming for poultry and eggs is also widespread. While the milk and cheese sectors still include many small-scale producers and cows and buffaloes in extensive systems the number of large, factory-style dairy operations is increasing.[20]
The main bottleneck to the growth of animal husbandry is availability of adequate fodder throughout the year. Fodder from the surplus states, are to be transported in the form of fodder pellets to deficit states to eliminate fodder scarcity.[21]
| LIVESTOCK POPULATION IN INDIA BY SPECIES (MILLION NUMBERS)[2] | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Species | 1951 | 1956 | 1961 | 1966 | 1972 | 1977 | 1982 | 1987 | 1992 | 1997 | 2003 | 2007 | 2012 | 2019 |
| Cattle | 155.3 | 158.7 | 175.6 | 176.2 | 178.3 | 180.0 | 192.5 | 199.7 | 204.6 | 198.9 | 185.2 | 199.1 | 190.9 | 192.5 |
| Adult Female Cattle | 54.4 | 47.3 | 51.0 | 51.8 | 53.4 | 54.6 | 59.2 | 62.1 | 64.4 | 64.4 | 64.5 | 73.0 | 76.7 | 81.4 |
| Buffalo | 43.4 | 44.9 | 51.2 | 53.0 | 57.4 | 62.0 | 69.8 | 76.0 | 84.2 | 89.9 | 97.9 | 105.3 | 108.7 | 109.9 |
| Adult Female Buffalo | 21.0 | 21.7 | 24.3 | 25.4 | 28.6 | 31.3 | 32.5 | 39.1 | 43.8 | 46.8 | 51.0 | 54.5 | 56.6 | 55.0 |
| Sheep | 39.1 | 39.3 | 40.2 | 42.4 | 40.0 | 41.0 | 48.8 | 45.7 | 50.8 | 57.5 | 61.5 | 71.6 | 65.1 | 74.3 |
| Goat | 47.2 | 55.4 | 60.9 | 64.6 | 67.5 | 75.6 | 95.3 | 110.2 | 115.3 | 122.7 | 124.4 | 140.5 | 135.2 | 148.9 |
| Horses and Ponies | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
| Camels | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Pigs | 4.4 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 6.9 | 7.6 | 10.1 | 10.6 | 12.8 | 13.3 | 13.5 | 11.1 | 10.3 | 9.1 |
| Donkeys | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Yak | NC | NC | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
_in_Kalleshvara_temple_at_Bagali_1.JPG)
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)If there was one technological breakthrough that revolutionized India's organized dairy industry, it was the making of skim milk powder out of buffalo milk. The man who made this possible, and who had the foresight to defy the prevailing technical wisdom, wasH. M. Dalaya. While the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union is usually associated with its founder, Tribhuvandas Patel, it was Dalaya who provided the real technical backbone to theAmul organization.
