Lucknow, 08 December: According to the data of Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics 2023-24, the total production of milk in the country is 239.30 million tonnes. Uttar Pradesh’s contribution in this is the highest, about 16 percent. After this comes Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab. In this way, Uttar Pradesh’s supremacy in milk production remains intact.
A major reason for this is the personal interest of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in this sector and the steps taken in the interest of cattle farmers since his first term. The government honors cattle farmers from the state to the district level with Nand Baba and Gokul Awards to encourage them.
Recently, the Government of Australia had expressed its desire to cooperate with the state government to increase production through breed improvement. The government is using sex shortage technique (in this the probability of having only female calves is more than 90 percent) to improve the breed. The Government Veterinary College to be opened in Gorakhpur will also play an important role in breed improvement.
“Prosperity through cooperation” “Prosperity through cooperation” is the slogan of the government. Miracles are possible through cooperation in the dairy sector. The world’s strongest brand Amul is an example of this. Therefore, the government has a special focus on this.
Recently, a presentation of the Pradeshik Cooperative Dairy Federation (PCDF) was made before the Chief Minister. In this, he had instructed that targets of work should be set by fixing accountability at every level in the milk unions. Improve the quality testing of milk by increasing the milk collection capacity. The employees associated with the committee should be given proper training, they should be provided with necessary equipment to check the quality of milk and the committees should compete with each other in a healthy manner. Increase communication with the cattle rearers. These steps of the government will increase the milk productivity of the dairy unions and the income of the farmers will also increase.
Maximum benefit from animal husbandry Most animal keepers are small landholders or landless farmers. The milch animals reared by them are like ATMs for them. Any good work done in animal husbandry will have a better impact on them only. This section is the top priority of the Yogi government. In his first cabinet itself, he has proved it by waiving off loans up to one lakh rupees of small and marginal farmers. Encouraging animal husbandry is also a part of it.
The government is also making co-products economically useful. The Yogi government is making cow dung, cow urine etc. economically useful along with milk in the maximum interest of animal keepers. The Chief Minister has clearly instructed that Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) plants should be set up from cow dung. The state government will provide land for this.
An effective means of making women self-reliant
The spokesperson of the state government said that the dairy sector is an effective means of empowering women. The number of women working in the sector is also the highest. In such a situation, there is a need to connect more and more women to this sector. At some places, women’s groups are also doing exemplary work in this sector. Balini Milk Producer Company in Bundelkhand region is an example of this. In the coming time, the Chief Minister has also given clear instructions to increase the participation of women in milk cooperatives and milk unions.
Health of people and land will improve
With the increase in milk production and availability of milk per person, people’s health will improve. It is also increasing continuously. In 2021, the availability of milk per person was 321 grams. In 2024, it increased to 471 grams. The annual growth rate of milk production is 3.78 percent. Naturally, Uttar Pradesh has the highest contribution in this due to the highest production.
