At 8.4Lac crore output value, Milk surpasses Food Grain

Pashu Sandesh, 23 Feb 2022

As per the National Account Statistics 2021, value of the output of milk in 2019- 20 is Rs8.4 Lac crore at current prices surpassing the total value of output from food grains. As per Basic Animal Husbandry statistics 2020, the average milk productivity of Indigenous including non-descript cattle in the country is 3.08 kg per animal per day during 2019- 20. This information was given by Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala in the Rajya Sabha.

Animal husbandry is the State subject and most of the States have formulated their own breeding policy for cattle deciding on the choice of breed, cross-breeding strategy, animals of different breeds required, breeding goals in terms of expected genetic progress to be achieved, specific breeding programmes and the control measures that should be adopted to achieve the desired genetic gains in the population. 

Most of the local cows are managed on low input and low output systems by small and marginal farmers and landless labours for the production of milk for household nutritional requirements and sale surplus milk to dairy cooperatives or local milk vendors. Daring is a sustainable activity in rural India as it is playing important role in providing livelihood support to more than 8 crore rural households engaged in daring mainly small and marginal farmers and landless labours.