Inside Milk
India seeks growth in milk production
India is the world's largest dairy country by milk consumption. Moreover, consumption is also growing the fastest in the world. That is why India is looking hard for opportunities to boost its own milk production.
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The dairy farming sector in India is very small-scale. Many farmers milk 2 to 3 dairy cows, part of which is for their own consumption and part is traded. This trade is often directly on a local market, without a factory. In recent years, there has been an increasing push from the government and the Indian dairy farmers themselves to modernize the dairy farming sector and even focus on the export market.
The Indian government wants to set up test farms for the dairy sector, whereby a dairy farm will be established that resembles a modern Western dairy farm with adjustments. The country is trying to gather a lot of knowledge about dairy farming from the Netherlands, Denmark and Israel. In various knowledge centers, dairy farmers receive education about efficiency with roughage, milk per cow, but also how they can improve the quality of the milk.
Changes in politics
What is still holding India back from emerging as a major player in the global dairy market is logistics and technology. India has a 'made in India' policy, which makes it difficult for foreign investors to export products to India. Indian dairy farmers also recognize this obstacle and are keen to modernize.
With the current changes in policy to partially liberalize the market in India, this creates opportunities for both foreign investors and Indian dairy farmers. However, these policy changes to be more open to foreign countries have also been poorly absorbed by several farmers in the country. It is feared that foreign investors will worsen the farmer's income. Dissent among Indian farmers led to major protests in January this year.
Dairy production for export
Indian dairy farmers are keen to sell dairy for export. The problem is that the quality of the milk is not simply accepted abroad. For example, the cell count is too high and foot and mouth disease is also prevalent. Milk production from indigenous cow breeds is also low at around 3 kg of milk per cow per day. Projects involving crosses of foreign breeds appear to be more successful with production of around 8kg per cow per day.
If current developments continue, India as a major dairy country can finally wake up on the world market. This could have a huge impact when more than 70 million Indian dairy farmers enter the export market. However, the route to get there is long with many bumps to overcome.
