Growth and instability in dairy production and trade: a global analysis

Dairy Economy of India

“…This transformed India from a country of acute milk shortage to the world's largest producer and has elevated the per capita availability of milk from 112 gm/day to 289.4 gm/day during the same period. This is now comparable with global per capita availability of milk at 289.31 gm/day for the same period (Ohlan, 2014a). Still, this is insufficient for a large lacto-vegetarian populated country like India.…”

“…Dairy products contributed about 6.4 per cent of calorie intake in rural and 8 per cent in urban India in 2009-10, while their contribution in protein intake was 9 per cent in rural and 13 per cent in urban areas for the same period (NSSO, 2012). Milk and dairy products are a major source of cheap and nutritious food to millions of Indians (Ohlan, 2012a).…”

“…India is the world's largest producer and consumer of milk. With a production of 121.8 million tonnes in 2011, it accounted for 16 per cent of the world's total milk production (Ohlan, 2014a). In 2010-11, 29.64 per cent of India's agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) originated in the livestock sector, with the dairy subsector accounting for approximately 70 per cent of livestock output.…”

“…Out of these 22.45 million persons engaged in animal husbandry, 16.84 million (75 per cent) are women, showing that the dairy sector fuels much-needed women's empowerment and inclusive growth. As India is also a net exporter of dairy products, in the emerging liberalised farm trade order, the dairy sector holds great promise as a major source of foreign exchange earnings, with India's dairy exports valued at `54,797.42 lakh in 2010-11 (Ohlan, 2014b). 1 It is because of rapidly increasing disposable incomes, market development, population growth, urbanisation, changes in lifestyles and dietary preferences, increased health, nutrition and diet concerns, together with the growing popularity of dairy products that the demand for milk and milk products has been growing fast in India (Ohlan, 2013a).…”

“…Small and marginal farmers account for three-quarters of these livestock-owning households, raising 56 per cent of the bovine and 66 per cent of the sheep population. Dairying has been considered one of the activities aimed at alleviating poverty, especially in rural areas in rainfed and drought-prone regions (Ohlan, 2011). Rural poverty is less in states like Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat and Rajasthan where dairy accounts for a sizeable share of agricultural income and employment.…”