Growth and structural transformations in dairy sector of India

Abstract

The ongoing agrarian crises and rise in demand fordairy products coupled with government’s emphasis on dairysector since operation flood has led to shift in dynamics of crop-livestock production systems in India. In this context, the presentstudy examines growth and underlying structural transformationsin dairy sector of India since 1991. The results of the study revealthat milk production has continuously risen from 53.9 milliontonnes during 1990-91 to 163.7 million tonnes during 2016-17along with increase in per capita availability of milk from 176 g/day to 352 g/day during the same period. The study also showsthat different states of India has responded differently to thestructural changes such as rapid growth in contribution of milkby states like Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan in nationalmilk production, while traditionally green revolutionary statessuch as Punjab and Haryana along with Karnataka, Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal have registereda decline in milk contribution. At national level, the contributionof crossbred cows has continuously increased, whereas the shareof indigenous/local cows and buffaloes has gone down. Thestudy also reveals that around 57 per cent of growth of milkproduction is contributed by increase in livestock population,while another 31 per cent growth is due to rise in milk yield of themilch animals. Yield effect is found to be stronger in local cattleand goats, whereas population effect is stronger in case ofcrossbred cattle and buffaloes. The structural shift is alsowitnessed in milk marketing pattern with cooperative sectorexpanding its procurement and processing capacity.