By Dominick Rodrigues
India is a global leader amongst dairying nations with production of 198.4 million tonnes of milk during 2019-20, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Giriraj Singh said on the World Milk Day which is observed globally annually on June 1.
Chairing a virtual program organised on World Milk Day, the Minister announced the launch of the National Awards for the Cattle and Dairy sector — the Gopal Ratna Awards – in three categories – i) Best Dairy farmer, ii) Best Artificial Insemination Technician (AIT) and Best Dairy Cooperative/ Milk producer Company/ FPO.
Eligible farmers/dairy cooperative societies/ AI technicians could apply for award online whose portal will open from 15th July 2021 with winners being announced on 31st October 2021, he said, while also announcing integration of the e Gopala App with UMANG platform to enable 3.1 Crore UMANG users to access the e-GOPALA app (Generation of wealth through Productive Livestock), which is a comprehensive breed improvement marketplace and information portal for direct use of farmers.
While the current value of milk output is more than Rs 7.72 lakh crore during 2018-19 — more than the value of output of wheat and paddy together – the Minister also noted that milk production has grown at an average annual growth rate of 6.3% per year during last 6 years — while world milk production is growing at barely 1.5% per year. Per capita availability of milk has increased from 307 grams per person per day in 2013-14 to 406 grams per person per day in 2019-2020 at 32.24%, he said.
Highlighting the fact that India’s dairy sector provides livelihood support to 8 crore dairy farmers engaged in dairying including mainly small & marginal and landless labourers, he said the country’s dairy cooperatives have the singular distinction of providing seventy five percent of their sales to the farmers. Over 2 crore dairy farmers have been organised into dairy cooperatives and 1.94 lakh Dairy Cooperative Societies are collecting milk from milk potential villages, he added.
The virtual event was also addressed by Minister of State, Fisheries Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Dr Sanjeev Kumar Balyan and Pratap Chandra Sarangi. The event was virtually attended by farmers, members of dairy federations, Dairy co-operatives, research scholars, administrators etc.
The inaugural programme was followed by Technical Session on “Role of Breed Improvement Technologies in Genetic Up-gradation Programme”, many eminent experts and Scientists participated in the session
