November 26, the day Verghese Kurien was born in 1921, to make a revolution in the dairy sector of the country. National Milk Day is being celebrated year after year to mark the birth anniversary of the Father of White Revolution, Verghese Kurien. “Operation Flood” which has painted the country white is to be credited to this man who revived the market by introducing the cooperatives in the dairy sector. World’s largest agricultural dairy development programme that made dairy farming in India, the country’s largest self-sustaining industry and the largest rural employment provider. Started off with that, India has reached a position when today it is the world’s largest milk producing country. And it is one of the most cash enriching business in agriculture today.
On this National Milk Day, Krishi Jagran brings to you the most interesting facts about the country’s dairy industry and the animals which contribute to this amazing industry.
Milk and Dairy Facts
Milk which is considered an ideal ingredient of one’s diet is not less synonymous with drinking water, as the milk which you drink has about 88% of water in it. It contains about 7% of fat if it happens to be buffalo milk and about 4%of fat its that’s cow milk. 2-3 % of the milk has sugar content. So, majority of the milk that you take is H2O.
The cows named Yamuna and Ganga, in the age group of three-and-a-half and four-and-a-half years are named to be the most milk rearing cows in India. The record production of milk in a single day has been achieved by The National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) which has achieved a national record-breaking milk production of 59.5 liters in a cross-bred cow. The two cross-bred cattle who were born out of a genetic stock from the NDRI herd and a pure Holstein Friesian bull. While one of the cows yielded 51.5 kg, the other broke the record yielding 59.5 kg in one day.
After cow, its time for Buffalo. Kurukshetra-based Karamvir Singh's Murrah buffalo 'Yuvraj', has proven to be the most expensive buffalo of all times. The handsome Yuvraj with smooth black coating of its skin is worth 2 AUDI R8. “Yuvraj” is priced at a wopping 5 crore. This most expensive buffalo, sells its semes at Rs.350 per dose and The earnings from the sale of this buffalo's semem corss Rs. 40 lakh per year.
The average weight of a cow/buffalo in India is about 350 kg. And this weight is managed by a cow / buffalo drinks about 40 liters of water and about 4-5 quintals of fodder. This is the average intake of a Indian breed which after feeding this much gives about 20-25 liters of milk in a day.
The gestation period of the cow is similar to that of humans i.e. 9 months. And a calf can start to conceive after 2 years of age. And the lactation period goes for as long as 10 months. Considering the average age of the animal which is about 20 years. Profits can be drawn in for about 18 years.
