The potential of the dairy sector not only give impetus to the rural economy but is also a major source of livelihood for crores of people across the world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today.
Inaugurating the International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit (IDF WDS) 2022 organised at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida, Modi underlined the centrality of ‘Pashu Dhan’ and milk-related business in the cultural landscape of India and said that this had given the dairy sector of India many unique characteristics.
Prime Minister expressed happiness that all the dignitaries from the world of dairy have assembled in India today. He said that the World Dairy Summit is going to be a great medium for the exchange of ideas.
“The potential of the dairy sector not only gives impetus to the rural economy but is also a major source of livelihood for crores of people across the world”.
Prime Minister pointed out that unlike other developed countries of the world, the driving force of the dairy sector in India is small farmers. India’s dairy sector is characterized 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 8 crore families in the country”, he informed.
The four-day-long IDF WDS 2022, held from 12th to 15th September, is a congregation of global and Indian dairy stakeholders including industry leaders, experts, farmers and policy planners centring around the theme of ‘Dairy for Nutrition and Livelihood’. Around 1500 participants from 50 countries are expected to participate in IDF WDS 2022. The last such Summit was held in India about half a century ago in 1974.
Explaining the second unique characteristic of the Indian dairy system, Modi reiterated that there is such a huge network of Dairy Cooperative in India, and one cannot find such an example in the whole world elsewhere.
He said that 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.
Prime Minister pointed out that there was no middleman in the entire process, and more than 70 per cent of 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”, the Prime Minister added and also underlined the efficiency of the digital system of payment in the dairy sector and said that it has many lessons for other countries.
Another unique feature, according to the Prime Minister, is the indigenous breeds that can withstand many adverse circumstances. He gave the example of the sturdy buffalo breed of Banni Buffalo of the Kutch region of Gujarat. He also talked about other buffalo breeds such as Murrah, Mehsana, Jafrabadi, Nili Ravi, and Pandharpuri; among the cow breeds, he mentioned Gir, Sahiwal, Rathi, Kankrej, Tharparker and Haryana.
Prime Minister highlighted the power of women in the dairy sector, which was unique and pointed out that 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 and added that at more than eight and a half lakh crore rupees, the dairy sector is more than the combined value of wheat and rice. This is all driven by the women power of India.
Prime Minister said that the government is working on developing a blanched dairy ecosystem where challenges of the sectors are being addressed along with a focus on increasing production. Extra income for the farmers, empowerment of the poor, swachhta, chemical-free farming, clean energy and care of the cattle is interlinked in this ecosystem. He stressed that animal husbandry and dairy are being promoted as a powerful medium of green and sustainable growth in the villages.
Schemes like Rashtriya Gokul Mission, Goberdhan Yojna, Digitization of dairy sector and universal vaccination of cattle along with steps like banning single-use plastic, are steps in that direction.
Stressing the use of modern technology, Prime Minister said that India is building the largest database of dairy animals and every animal associated with the dairy sector is being tagged.
“We are doing biometric identification of animals. We have named it – Pashu Adhar”, he said.
While concluding, Prime Minister reiterated that India is working on a digital system which will capture the end-to-end activities of the livestock sector. This will provide accurate information needed to improve this sector. This summit will put forward the work that is being done around the world regarding many such technologies.