The dairy sector holds immense significance for India across multiple fronts. It serves as a major contributor to the growth of the rural economy, supporting over 80 million rural households, predominantly small and marginal farmers along with landless individuals.
Dairy co operatives play a vital role in ensuring food security, livelihoods, and fostering women’s participation. Notably, women constitute the primary workforce within this sector, making it a key contributor to women’s empowerment.
Today, India stands as the world’s largest milk producer accounting for 24% of the global milk production. Despite the profitability of dairy farming and proven success of Amul model of dairy development, dairy co-operatives are established in a relatively low number of villages nationwide, a gap that requires attention and enhancement.
It is in this context, the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) organized a workshop titled “Expanding Coverage of Dairy Cooperative Societies” yesterday at Anand, Gujarat. The event was inaugurated by Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation (MoC), Ms. Varsha Joshi, Additional Secretary at the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (Dept_of_AHD), Shri Pankaj Kumar Bansal, Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Cooperation, and Managing Director of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (mdncdc), and Dr. Meenesh Shah, Chairman of NDDB.
During the workshop, the attendees paid tribute to Dr. Verghese Kurien, the Father of White Revolution. Dr. Bhutani emphasized the importance of replicating successful cooperative dairy models nationwide, aiming to formulate a comprehensive action plan with inputs from key stakeholders.
Ms. Varsha Joshi highlighted the role of dairying in doubling farmers’ income, especially for women, citing schemes like the National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD) by the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying. She praised NDDB’s role in implementing successful strategies and urged for every dairy potential village to be covered by a dairy cooperative.
NDDB’s Chairman discussed the outcomes of a pilot project establishing dairy societies in previously uncovered areas of Jind (Haryana), Indore (Madhya Pradesh), and Chikmanglur (Karnataka). Leveraging lessons from this pilot, NDDB has launched a scheme to support 1,000 Milk Producer Companies (MPACs) through milk unions or producer organizations.
Dr. Shah encouraged all states to capitalize on this scheme to realize the vision of #SahkarseSamriddhi in mission mode. Additionally, Shri Pankaj Kumar Bansal advocated for a 50% increase in milk collection cooperatives to benefit farmers directly.
The workshop, conducted in a hybrid mode, saw participation from Registrars of Cooperative Societies, Milk Commissioners, Deputy Milk Commissioners, MDs of Milk Federations, and CEOs of Milk Producer Organizations from various states.
Dr. Bhutani also visited NDDB’s ‘Parikrama’ gallery where Dr. Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB briefed him about its activities and initiatives in the dairy sector.
