Bangalore, February 23: The dairy sector in India has still miles to go before it achieves the highest standards of quality. Disclosing this Amrita Patel, managing director, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), said that ``though milk production in India is energy efficient there is still a need to achieve greater economies and efficiencies in transport, processing and marketing.''``Production has risen along with productivity and now it must rise because of improved productivity,'' she said while delivering the keynote address at the second Pan Commonwealth Veterinary Conference here on Monday.
Milk output has increased from 24.5 million tonne in 1970 to 70 million tonne in 1998 and more than 10 million member households have gained from this. Further, indigenous dairy equipment manufacturing capacity has reached a stage where only less than 10 per cent of the equipment is now imported. Indigenous knowledge and expertise is now available in the country for all aspects of animal husbandry, nutrition,animal health, breeding, management information systems, dairy engineering, food technology etc,'' she added.
Patel said that the country was now the second largest producer of milk in the world especially in the light that per capita availability of the commodity had doubled while the population had trebled.
The main credit for this, she said, goes to the women dairy farmers who account for around 60 per cent in this sector. NDDB has recently launched a programme called the `Women's dairy cooperative leadership programme' aimed at raising the percentage of active women members in dairy cooperatives. On NDDB's role she said that the organisation continued to believe in the paradigm that co-operatives could be the most effective and important form of corporate enterprise, especially in developing dairying in the country. ``Cooperatives are user organisations and they can function effectively only to the extent that the members and leaders are users, i.e. they themselves are dairy farmers.'' Criticising theoffering of financial inducements to encourage social change, she said ``We have learnt the `hard way'' that this is a poor way to achieve the goal.'' NDDB will no longer offer funds to unions that are willing to undertake such activities but will support them by way of training personnel etc. However, we will provide funds if the situation warrants it,'' she added.
She also called upon the veterinarians to develop skills necessary to successfully promote adoption of change by farmers at large. ``While there is a need for research, the end of research must be delivery of new inputs and methods that help farmers become more productive. It is interesting, though discouraging, to note that the lessons of rural sociology -of communication and innovation - have been well taught and learned by those who sell soap, liquour and cigarettes, but not veterinary colleges.'' added Patel.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
