National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) is hopeful that countries in Asia and the Pacific Region, where the demand for milk and milk products is expected to be 320 million tonnes (mt) per annum by 2021, may follow the Board’s ongoing National Dairy Plan (NDP) with regional variations as per their requirements.

 

This region would need to increase milk availability by another 50 mt within this decade. Asia currently produces 275 mt of milk annually.

 

“I am sure the NDP model can be followed by many other countries,” said T. Nanda Kumar, Chairman, NDDB, on the sidelines of the regional meeting on the theme of “Sustainable Dairy Development in Asia-From Concept to Action”, here on Wednesday. NDDB believes that dairy development is not about the commodity called milk, but about the social and economic transformation of rural households in India, and empowerment of women through dairying, he said.

 

“We in India are willing to share both knowledge and experience in arriving at a ‘common but differentiated’ solution for countries in the Asian region.” India is currently the world’s largest milk producer at 138 mt and another 6 mt of milk is expected to be added to it by 2020.

 

Grace J Cenas, Administrator, National Dairy Authority of The Philippines, praised India’s milk revolution through cooperative movement, saying it was worth emulation by others.

 

Ayuth Harintharanon, Director-General of the Department of Livestock Development, Bangkok, applauded the contribution of Indian immigrants in dairy sector in Thailand where, on an average, a cow yields 4,000 litres of milk per lactation period.

 

Henning Steinfeld, Chief, Livestock Information and Policy Branch, FAO, Rome, said NDDB’s “unique” experience can be shared by all. The UN General Assembly is expected to ratify a major plan for sustainable dairying in September this year.

 

Dr Suresh S. Honnappagol, Animal Husbandry Commissioner, Government of India, pointed out that 80% of milk production is contributed by the smallholder dairy producers with an average of four litres of production daily.

 

Vili Fuavao, FAO Deputy Regional Representative, Bangkok said 60% of the undernourished people of the world live in Asia and the Pacific Region and a decisive and collective action is needed to improve their nutritional security.

 

This is the second such meeting, the first one being held in Bangkok in May 2014. More than 60 delegates from India and abroad, including experts and policymakers of the region, are participating in the event, from March 23 to 26, to discuss and adopt a strategic framework and a roadmap for sustainable dairy development that would boost livelihoods of the smallholder dairy farmers.

 

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