To put it straight, the first thing it does is generate employment opportunities. The more factories the more is employment. And it isn’t a rocket science to understand. Sure, these days, machines have reduced manual labor greatly, but in an industry, particularly an FMCG, one cannot deny the importance of manual labour. That, in turn, generates quite a good number of employment
India is self-sufficient in milk production, the primary focus areas have been and are continuing to be;
- Constant growth in milk production
- Bettering inclusive growth through the organized sector
- Building scales in processing capacities
Currently, the organized sectors are processing packaged milk and dairy products that account for about 28 million tonnes. Seeing such a huge production, it could to be assumed that the demand for processed milk plus derivates has risen over the few years. It is, in fact, estimated that the demand for milk will be somewhere around 180 million tonnes by 2021-22, while the average annual increase in production is estimated to be at 6-7 million tonnes in the next coming years.
Nearly 80% of the milk production in India is contributed by small and marginal farmers, with a herd size of one to two milking animals. In India, as you may know, there is high dependence on the family labour. Therefore, animal management and mechanization have been introduced. But to continue with this, heavy investment is required.
Co-operative sector comes to play a crucial role. Over the last fifteen years, the private sector has made an impressive growth in building capacities for processing milk plus derivatives. The dairy industry in India has received around INR 2,500 crore private equity investments, backed by consumption in India. Therefore, private sector companies can capitalize on these investments while focusing on setting up integrated dairy companies.
For the ease of the farmers, a lot of companies these days have come up with cattle insurance. Overall policy-level focus on the investments from the cooperatives and private sector will certainly increase the income opportunities for the rural India. A much stronger rural economy with high levels of income is further expected.
Similarly, the dairy sector in India is working to educate the farmers about the new methodology of dairy farming and the importance of the green feeds. Use of fodder is likely to grow in future for the betterment of both cattle’s health and quality milk production year round.
