Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said India's dairy sector is characterized for "production by masses" more than "mass production" and it provides employment to over 8 crore Indian families.
"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," Prime Minister Modi said.
Prime Minister Modi made the remarks at the inauguration of the International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit 2022 held in Greater Noida near the national capital.
In his address to the global dairy community, he underlined about three major strengths of India's dairy sector -- small dairy farmers, dairy cooperative network, and indigenous breeds of livestock.
Prime minister Modi said such a large network of dairy cooperatives can hardly be found anywhere else in the world.
"These dairy cooperatives collect milk from over 2 lakh villages covering nearly 2 crore dairy farmers that too twice in a day. They collect the milk and then take it to the end consumers."
"This entire process is free from any middlemen. Over 70 per cent of the money received from the customers directly goes back to farmers."
While speaking about the strength and uniqueness of India's dairy sector, he said India's model of production by the masses can be a business model for other poor nations.
Further, he also highlighted the large participation of women in the country's dairy sector.
"Women power represents 70 per cent of the workforce in India's dairy sector and they 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," prime minister Modi added.
PM Modi also talked about how the digital revolution in India has also reached the dairy sector and said the digital payment system can help farmers across the world. "Tough, adaptable indigenous species are India's uniqueness in the dairy sector," he added.
The evolution of the dairy sector in India and the stellar role played by dairy cooperatives since the launch of Operation Flood form an integral part of the country's growth story as the country now is the largest producer of milk.
India contributes 21 per cent to global milk production.
It is important to note that during the 1950s and 1960s the situation of India's dairy sector was radically different as it was a milk-deficit nation and depended more on imports.
The country produced less than 21 million tonnes of milk per annum despite having the largest cattle population in the world and the sector was struggling to survive, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said in an explainer on Wednesday.
Over the past two decades, India's milk production has doubled. The credit also goes to a well-known federation called 'Amul', which was created by 3.6 million milk producers in Gujarat. In order to improve the livelihood of the farmers, Amul also charted its journey on a similar path as 'Operation Flood', the explainer said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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