The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Lack of water may impede growth of dairies

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Saturday, Oct 27, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Lack of water may impede growth of dairies

Special Correspondent

- PHOTO: K. RAMESH BABU

Expert advice: Amrita Patel at the Birla Science Centre in Hyderabad on Friday.

HYDERABAD: National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) chairperson Amrita Patel said here on Friday that water was likely to be a limiting factor for dairy development in the country over the years. Water requirement for a livestock population of 485 million could remain unsatisfied with increasing monopolisation of water resources and many of the country’s zones and districts being declared dark, she said, while delivering the fifth endowment lecture instituted in memory of J. Raghotham Reddy, former Vice-Chancellor of Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, here on Friday.

Ms. Patel said the National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Management had estimated the national water requirement for livestock at five billion cubic metres. This was the quantity of water required by livestock for drinking alone. It did not account for water required for biomass, crop residue and cleaning of animals.

She also said the country has to sustain the four per cent per annum growth rate in milk production that it had achieved in the last two decades to meet the growing demand for milk and milk products. The country had added about 2.5 million tonnes of milk each year in the last 15 years. However, the addition has to be doubled to five million tonnes each year to meet the projected demand of 180 million tonnes by 2021-22.

The NDDB had drawn up an ambitious National Dairy Plan to address this challenge. It was proposed to be achieved by measures leading to higher genetic progress in the milch cattle and buffalo population and improved nutrition.

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