NEW DELHI: India’s milk output jumped by 3.78% to 239.30 million tonnes during 2023-24, as the country continued being the world’s largest producer, according to the government’s Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics 2024 released on Tuesday.
In the previous fiscal year, the country produced 230.58 million tonnes of raw liquid milk. Output in 2023-24 however increased at a slower pace compared to 3.83% in 2022-23 and 5.77% in 2021-22.
“Production has gone up due to better productivity of milch cattle, which has also increased per capita availability,” Union minister of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying Rajiv Ranjan Singh said, releasing the report on Tuesday on the occasion of National Milk Day.
The country marks the National Milk Day on November 26 on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Verghese Kurien, the social entrepreneur who made India self-sufficient in milk output through a so-called white revolution.
Singh said the per capita milk availability increased to 471 gm per day in 2023-24 from 459 gm per day in 2022-23, while the average growth in India’s milk production has been 6% against a 2 per cent global average.
India is currently conducting its 21st livestock census, which will give the latest cattle headcount. Livestock is a key sub-sector of the farm economy and a crucial source of rural income. From 2014-15 to 2022-23, the livestock sector grew at a compound annual growth rate of 7.38% at constant prices, which adjusts for changes in prices, according to the government’s latest Economic Survey.
The share of livestock in the total gross value added or GVA, a measure of growth, in agriculture increased from 24.32% in 2014-15 to 30.38% in 2022-23. During 2021-23, the sector was hobbled by a deadly lumpy skin disease epidemic.
According to the report, the top five milk-producing states are Uttar Pradesh (16.21% of national output), Rajasthan (14.51%), Madhya Pradesh (8.91%), Gujarat (7.65%), and Maharashtra (6.71%). They together contribute 53.99% of total milk production in the country, the report said.