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With the aim of increasing milk productivity to meet an estimated demand of 200 million tonnes by 2021-22, the Government sees a bigger role for the private sector in the dairy industry and has identified areas for public-private partnerships (PPPs).
“For us, the private sector is as important as the cooperative sector,” said Rajni Sibal, Joint Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries, at an event on ‘Dairy Vision 2015’, hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
The areas where the Government sees a potential for PPPs are setting up veterinary hospitals and colleges, semen stations for cattle breeding, production of vaccines, drugs and nutraceuticals, cattle feed and fodder seed plants, automated dairy farms, milking and testing machines, cold chain infrastructure, providing milk cans and tankers, among others.
Sibal said the Government believed in ‘minimal intervention’ in the country’s dairy trade, which was one reason why exports had been rising.
In an earlier session, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said to encourage breeding of desi cows and reducing dependence on foreign and hybrid cows, the Government will set up national breeding centres. “In two months, one National Kamadhenu Centre each will be set up in North and South India. Land is being identified for this purpose,” he added.
T Nandakumar, Chairman, National Dairy Development Board, called for taking the ‘white revolution’ to the eastern part of India. “The region has more water resources and is conducive to fodder production. Moreover, there are poverty issues that need to be addressed.”
Nandakumar said one of the biggest challenges for increasing milk yield was availability of good quality fodder, and called for efforts to make fodder production a commercial activity in India.
He also noted that ‘feminisation’ of agriculture was most visible in the dairy industry, but benefits were not flowing to over four million women involved in the sector.
Daljeet Singh, President, Progressive Farmers Dairy Association, said the farmer needed to be given incentives, such as minimum support price, to stick to dairying. “Unless a farmer is able to save something for himself, he will not go for commercial farming,” he added. To raise milk productivity, experts also suggested genetic improvement of animals, import of quality semen, as well as a clear policy on dry animals among others.
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