India continues to be world's largest milk producer

AHMEDABAD: India shall continue to be the world's largest milk producer with an expected output of 110 million tonnes in 2008-09, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has said.

"India's milk production was 104.8 million tonnes in 2007-08 and in 2008-09 it is expected to be 110 million tonnes," NDDB said in a statement here today.

On an aggregate, the co-operatives procured around 14 per cent of the national marketable surplus covering around 21 per cent of the country's villages and 18 per cent of the rural milk producing households, India's leading dairy development agency said.
The milk co-operatives marketed around 7.3 million tonnes of liquid milk, an annual increase of 5.7 per cent, the statement said.

A National Dairy Plan has been prepared with an estimated outlay of around Rs 17,300 crore spanning 15 years, it said.

To increase milk productivity, NDDB has forged alliances with various institutions to produce high genetic merit bulls in the country, the statement added.