Research Article | Livestock Production Management

Felt Needs and Constraints Faced by Milk Processors in Running Milk Processing Units

Post Graduate Institute of Veterinary Education and Research, RAJUVAS, Jamdoli, Agra Road, Jaipur 302031, India

Abstract

Dairying has become an important secondary source of income for millions of rural families and has assumed the most important role in providing employment and income-generating opportunities, particularly for marginal and women farmers. Most of the milk produced by animals is reared by small, marginal farmers and landless labourers. India ranks first among the world’s milk-producing nations since 1998 and has the largest bovine population in the world (Faye and Konuspayeva, 2012). FAO reported a 1.46% increase in world milk production from 800.2 MT in 2016 to 811.9 MT in 2017 (Faye and Konuspayeva, 2012). The per capita availability of milk in India was 130 grams per day during 1950-51 has increased to 374 grams per day in 2017-18 as against the world estimated average consumption of 294 grams per day during 2017(Vij et al, 2020). This represents sustained growth in the availability of milk and milk products for our growing population (Vijet al, 2020).Of the total milk production in India, about 48% of milk is either consumed at the producer level or sold to non-producers in rural areas. The remaining 52% of the milk is a marketable surplus available for sale to consumers in urban areas. Out of marketable surplus, it is estimated that about 40% of the milk sold is handled by the organized sector (Rath et al., 2019).

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