November 3, 2006

India's milk production to go up, says USDA 

India could further strengthen its position as the world's largest milk producer, with both its public and private sectors set to boost production.

The country's milk production could further increase by 3 percent to 98 million tonnes in 2007-08, driven by growing demand for dairy products and expanded processing capacities, said the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) report.

Rising demand, particularly for branded milk in urban parts of the country, has been making milk production a lucrative business for government and private players.

Demand has also been driven by high farm gate prices, that is prices received by farmers for their produce at the location of farm, according to the USDA.

The production of cow milk and other milk could rise to 41,150 tonnes and 56,850 tonnes respectively during 2007-08, as compared to the total production of about 95 million tonnes in 2006-07.

High-fat buffalo milk currently contributed 56 percent of the country's total production.

However, per capital milk consumption in India remains much lower than the world average.