The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Amrita Patel: productivity key challenge before dairy industry

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 24, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Amrita Patel: productivity key challenge before dairy industry

Special Correspondent

Inefficient feed utilisation has raised the cost of production, says NDDB Chairperson

HOLDING FORTH ON CHALLENGES: (From left) Chairperson of NDDB Amrita Patel, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Public Works Minister H.D. Revanna and Vice-Chairman of NDDB Tikko at the 34th Dairy Industry Conference of the Indian Dairy Association (South Zone) in Bangalore on Wednesday. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

BANGALORE: Chairperson of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) Amrita Patel has said that raising productivity, improving quality and information and knowledge management are three major challenges the Indian dairy industry is facing today.

Delivering the keynote address at the 34th Dairy Industry Conference of the Indian Dairy Association (South Zone) here on Wednesday, Dr. Patel said the country's annual growth in milk production was about four per cent and this was due to the partnership of cooperatives, government and private players. She said inefficient feed utilisation raised the cost of production and what was needed was continued research on cost-effective feeds that were appropriate to the specific nutritional needs of milch animals in specific areas.

On breeding, Dr. Patel said 60 semen stations in the country had about 2,000 breeding bulls, a number which were of questionable quality. About one-third of these needed to be replaced annually. "We hope that an enforcement mechanism will be put in place to ensure that only certified semen is made available to farmers."

Artificial insemination

To achieve quality, Dr. Patel said artificial insemination should be at the farmer's house. Artificial insemination needed to be privatised and should be available at a charge that was economical. Artificial insemination should be raised from existing 15 per cent to 40 per cent over the next decade. For disease control, she said a Central "Prevention of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals" Act was required. The legislation had remained pending for nearly two decades.

Quality of milk could be improved through investment. Farmers must be educated and equipment must be put in place in villages. Only a few private firms had made an investment to improve quality, Dr. Patel said.

All people would benefit if private players purchased milk from cooperatives rather than from contractors and intermediaries.

To ensure safety, the Centre had proposed integrating all food-related laws into a Food Safety and Standards Act. The legislation must be introduced soon as it would provide for sterner penalties for violations, NDDB chief said.

The expansion of dairy cooperatives had been impressive but it covered only 18 per cent of the villages and within these villages only a fraction of the producers had been reached with quality inputs and services.

The majority of cooperatives continued to operate under an antiquated legal and regulatory regime. They continued to operate within administrative boundaries rather than economic logic, he said.

"It is unfortunate and disappointing that NDDB's efforts to provide cooperatives the freedom, flexibility and professionalism necessary to give them a level-playing field to compete with other dairy corporate enterprises, is now being referred to as `corporatisation,'" she said.

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said small producers who own two or three cows dominated dairying. The industry does not require much capital.

He said a majority of cooperatives had become financially weak and there was need to revive them by removing government control and organisational restructuring. The dairy cooperatives must help farmers to improve quality and ensure fair price. He said 43 cooperatives had sought the Centre's assistance under the NDDB scheme.

The Government had started work on the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-2012) and all development schemes would be evaluated soon to compare actual outlays made and outcomes achieved, he said.

Minister for Public Works and Energy H.D. Revanna, who is also Chairman of the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), presided. He said KMF's turnover had crossed Rs. 1,500 crores. Indian Dairy Association President Animesh Banerjee spoke.

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