Inaugurating the International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit in Greater Noida on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Centre has made all efforts to keep a track of the movement of livestock in the wake of the spread of lumpy skin disease (LSD).
Mr. Modi said there has been a loss of livestock in many States due to the disease in the recent past and assured everyone that the Centre and the State Governments are trying their level best to keep a check on it.
“Our scientists have also prepared indigenous vaccine for lumpy skin disease,” he said and added that the movement of animals are being monitored to keep the outbreak under control. “Be it vaccination of animals or any other modern technology, India is always eager to contribute to the field of dairy while striving to learn from its partner nations. India has acted swiftly on its food safety standards,” Mr Modi said.
The Prime Minister highlighted the centrality of Pashu Dhan and milk-related business in the cultural landscape of India. The driving force of the dairy sector in India is small farmers, he said and added that the country’s dairy sector is characterised by “production by masses” more than “mass production”.
“India is the largest milk-producing country on the basis of the efforts of these small farmers with one, two or three cattle. This sector provides employment to more than eight crore families in the country,” he said.
He said the huge network of dairy cooperatives in India is a unique example and these dairy cooperatives collect milk twice a day from about two crore farmers in more than two lakh villages in the country and deliver it to the customers. “There is no middleman in the entire process, and more than 70% the money that is received from the customers goes directly into the pockets of the farmers. No other country has this ratio in the whole world,” he said.
Pointing out the importance of indigenous breeds, he said such varieties of cattle that can withstand many adverse circumstances. He gave the example of the sturdy buffalo breed of Banni Buffalo of the Kutch region an other buffalo breeds such as Murrah, Mehsana, Jafrabadi, Nili Ravi, and Pandharpuri and cow breeds like Gir, Sahiwal, Rathi, Kankrej, Tharparker and Haryana.
He said women have a 70% representation in the workforce in India’s dairy sector. “Women are the real leaders of India’s dairy sector. Not only this, more than a third of the members of dairy cooperatives in India are women,” he said adding that with a value of ₹ 8.5 lakh crore the dairy sector is more than the combined value of wheat and rice.
“This is all driven by the women power of India,” he said. “India produced 146 million tonnes of milk in 2014. It has now increased to 210 million tonnes. That is, an increase of about 44%,” the Prime Minister said.
