Introduction to Dairy Farming

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Dairy farming has been an important part of the agricultural scenario for thousands of years. India being a predominantly agrarian economy has about 70 per cent of its population living in villages, where livestock play a crucial role in the socio-economic life. Livestock provide high-quality foods such as milk, cheese, butter, ghee, etc. India is not only one of the top producers of milk in the world, but also the largest consumer of milk and milk products in the world. Due to the shortfall in supply, we have to import significant amounts of milk products to meet internal demand. Agriculture and animal husbandry have a symbiotic relationship, in which the agricultural sector provides feed and fodder for the livestock and animals provide milk, manure and draught power for various agricultural operations. Dairy sector is instrumental in bringing socio-economic transformation in India. It has created a lot of employment opportunities and also provides improved nutritional benefits. Animal husbandry is a major sub-sector of agriculture sector and contributes about 28.6 per cent to the agricultural value output (Annual Report 2017–18, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Government of India). The growth rate of 6.27  per cent and 6.37 per cent during 2015–16 and 2016– 17, respectively in the livestock sub-sector is much faster than the overall 0.7 per cent and 4.9 per cent growth rate of agriculture and allied sector during the same period (Economic Survey, 2016–17). The statistics indicate that there is a lot of employment potential for entrepreneurial activities in the dairy sector. This Unit discusses the scope of dairy sector in the Indian context.

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