India is the largest milk producing nation in the world. In 2013-14, our milk production was 132.4 million tonnes.
Do we produce enough milk for our people?
In 2011-12, the availability of milk was 290 gm per person per day. (Data taken from NDDB website.)
This means not even one glass of milk for the individual. (Capacity of a steel tumbler is about 400 cc.)
We need to provide about 900 gm of milk per person per day.
If we keep the target of achieving this level in 10 years, we require growth rate of about 15 % year on year in quantitative terms.
Are we prepared for this? Is this doable?
Increasing milk production is not easy. Following actions are required:
1. Increase the number of milch cattles. (It has a lead time. It can't happen overnight.)
2. Increase milk yield from each milch cattle. (Requires better animal feed. Different breed of cattle.)
3. Avoid wastages.
Do we produce enough milk for our people?
In 2011-12, the availability of milk was 290 gm per person per day. (Data taken from NDDB website.)
This means not even one glass of milk for the individual. (Capacity of a steel tumbler is about 400 cc.)
We need to provide about 900 gm of milk per person per day.
If we keep the target of achieving this level in 10 years, we require growth rate of about 15 % year on year in quantitative terms.
Are we prepared for this? Is this doable?
Increasing milk production is not easy. Following actions are required:
1. Increase the number of milch cattles. (It has a lead time. It can't happen overnight.)
2. Increase milk yield from each milch cattle. (Requires better animal feed. Different breed of cattle.)
3. Avoid wastages.
Let us look at option 1 of increasing the cattle stock. Each cow gives birth to only one calf at a time. We can expect only one calf per year. Over the life of a cow, she would produce 3 to 4 calves. Half of them are male. They can be used as draught animals. Other half are females. These will give milk.
Roughly over five years, one cow adds one and a half cows to the animal stock. But the mother cow gets old and dies. So the increase is possible to about 9 % only per year.
Second task of increasing yield from each milk cattle requires good animal husbandry practices. In order to achieve this we require strengthening the institutional framework. I propose that we should create one agriculture university in each district which has a veterinary hospital attached to it. The other departments will focus on the crops of that area. Initially this may be opened as a college attached to a nearby university. But vision should be to develop each one into a university over a period of 10 years or so.
These universities would be supported by Indian Council of Agriculture Research. Some of the research labs of ICAR can be the kernel for the new Universities. These may be central universities. While others can be State Universities.
