Dairy India 2007 (Sixth Edition) estimates the dairy market in India will more than double by 2011. By then, the organised sector will account for 30% of milk output and two-thirds will come from the private sector.
The country’s milk production is estimated to have touched 100 million tonnes (mt) last year, which is higher than the estimated 92 mt for rice and 75 mt for wheat. In value terms, too, a kg of milk is worth more than what you and I pay for a kg of rice and wheat. Despite all this and the fact that India is today the world’s largest milk producer, the dairy industry is for some strange reason not considered ‘glamorous’. For policy makers, dairying is viewed as a ‘subsidiary’ activity. This, when milk is one product that generates cash income to farmers almost on a daily basis, unlike sugarcane or wheat. Besides being a source of liquidity and insurance against crop failure, milk is the only crop where the farmer realises 60-70 per cent of consumer price – against 20 per cent or so in fruits and vegetables.
One reason for the ‘image problem’ suffered by milk has to do with the absence of proper databases with authentic information on the sector. This is a gap that Dairy India 2007 seeks to fill. The 864-page publication offers an invaluable databank-cum-management guide-cum-directory; it contains over 120 in-depth articles, 260 statistical tables and charts, and reference details of 7,000 organisations. The articles cover a range of topics including trends in consumption and market size of milk and milk products, WTO challenges and export potential, management of dairy plants and farms, breeding, feeding and nutrition, health care, clean milk production, food safety and quality standards as well as techno-economic feasibility of small- and large-scale dairy plants and farms.
Contributors include President APJ Abdul Kalam and the Father of India’s Dairy Revolution, Dr V. Kurien, besides a host of acknowledged experts in livestock management, marketing, processing technologies and policymakers. In response to unprecedented developments in Asian countries, a special section, ‘Dairy Asia’, has been introduced.
Dairy India 2007 has estimated the size of India’s dairy sector in 2005 at Rs 227,340 crore (valued at consumer prices). The largest contributor to this is liquid milk (at Rs 82,835 crore), followed by ghee (Rs 22,980 crore), khoa/chhana/paneer (Rs 24,100 crore), milk powder (Rs 4,680 crore), table butter (Rs 770 crore), cheese/edible casein (Rs 975 crore) and other products like ethnic sweets, ice-cream, etc. (Rs 9,100 crore). Out of the total milk production of 94.5 mt, 77 per cent or 73.1 mt is sold as liquid milk, with the balance 23 per cent or 21.4 mt converted into products. Further, the organised industry handles only 18 per cent or 17 mt of milk, with 36 per cent (34.5 mt) being handled by private dudhias and unorganised players, and 46 per cent (43 mt) being retained in rural areas. Within the 18 per cent organised sector share, private and cooperative/government dairies handle an equal 8.5 mt each.
By 2011, Dairy India projects the value of the industry to more than double to Rs 520,780 crore, which includes Rs 159,600 crore from liquid milk, Rs 42,680 crore from ghee, Rs 50,500 crore from khoa/chhana/paneer, Rs 9,100 crore from milk powder, Rs 2,250 crore from table butter, Rs 6,150 crore from cheese/edible casein, and Rs 25,050 crore from other products. Interestingly, out of the anticipated milk output of 120 mt, the share of liquid milk will rise to 81 per cent or 97.5 mt, and only the rest 19 per cent (22.5 mt) would get converted into products. The organised industry’s share of total milk handling will go up to 30 per cent (36 mt), while the small players will see their share dip to 22 per cent (26 mt). At the same time, higher rural incomes will marginally boost the share of milk retained in rural areas to 48 per cent, or 58 mt. The other significant feature is that within the 30 per cent overall share of organised dairies, the major 20 per cent (24 mt) will be accounted for by the private sector. The cooperatives and government dairies will handle 10 per cent or 12 mt of milk, which will be lower than that of the organised private sector.
