DAIRY SECTOR IN INDIA: A CRITICAL STUDY ON THE PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION OF MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS

Abstract

India is the world's largest milk producer. This was not the case a few years ago. The country used to be milk short, and imported milk from other countries to serve its growing population. India accounts for over one-fifth of the global milk production followed by the US, China, Pakistan and Brazil. In 1950s and 1960s, India was heavily dependent on milk imports until 1965, the Indian government decided to establish a National Dairy Development Board to improve India's dairy sector. From 1970s, the country aimed to enhance milk production, which led to the launch of Operation Flood and in 1998, India surpassed the US and became the largest milk producer in the world. India's per capita availability of milk more than doubled during 1991-2017, with the production growing at a 4% CAGR. In 1991 per capita availability in India is 178 gm/day whereas in 2017 per capita availability in India is 411 gm/day. Similarly, per capita availability in the world during 2017 was 302 gm/day.