On Wednesday, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Food Processing Industries to extend the benefits of various schemes to beneficiaries by providing credit support in the establishment of dairy processing, meat processing, and animal feed plants.
Dovetailing and synergizing efforts of both departments, particularly in the context of the common goal of assisting farmers and doubling their income through the livestock sector, is the need of the hour, according to Union Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying Minister Parshottam Rupala.
Both departments agreed to collaborate in order to achieve the goal of income generation and long-term development of the rural poor.
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries has been implementing schemes such as One District One Product (ODOP), while the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying administers the credit link grant assistance scheme for dairy, fisheries, poultry, and animal feed units.
New ODOP product units will now be supported for capital investment. Similarly, the Department of Animal Husbandry will recommend dairy and poultry units for benefits under Prime Minister Kisan Sampada Yojana, which is intended to improve supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet.
Quality Testing Infrastructure
"There is a shortage of milk quality testing infrastructure and village level cold chain infrastructure, which is affecting exports, though the potential exists," the government said in a statement.
Despite the fact that India has emerged as one of the top ten exporters of farm products, the country's dairy products account for only 0.1% of global trade.
The livestock sector is an important agricultural sub-sector in the Indian economy, growing at an 8.2 percent CAGR between 2014-15 and 2018-19. Despite the fact that India is the world's largest producer and consumer of milk and milk products, only 40% of the dairy industry is organized.
Milk production in the country increased by 6.28 percent year on year to 198.4 million tonnes in 2019-20, up from 146.3 million tonnes in 2014-15. Milk availability per capita has also increased, rising from 307 gm in 2013-14 to 406 gm in 2019-20.
