WORLD DAIRY SUMMIT 2022

• Recently, Prime Minister inaugurated the International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit (IDF WDS) 2022 at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida.
• International Dairy Federation is the leading source of scientific and technical expertise for all stakeholders of the dairy chain.
• Since 1903, IDF’s network of dairy experts has provided a mechanism for the dairy sector to reach a global consensus on how to help feed the world with safe and sustainable dairy products. 

Key Highlights of IDF World Dairy Summit

• The IDF World Dairy Summit is an annual meeting of the global dairy sector, bringing together approximately 1500 participants from all over the world.
• The last such Summit was held in India about half a century ago in 1974.
• The theme for this year is Dairy for Nutrition and Livelihood.
• The IDF World Dairy Summit will provide a forum to industry experts to share knowledge and ideas on how the sector can contribute to nourish the world with safe and sustainable dairying.
• Participants will get an opportunity to acquire knowledge on latest research findings and experiences relevant to the global dairy sector in the broadest sense.

status of Dairy sector in India

• India is ranked first in milk production contributing 23% of global milk production followed by the United States of America, China, Pakistan and Brazil.
• The top 5 milk-producing states are: Uttar Pradesh (14.9%), Rajasthan (14.6%), Madhya Pradesh (8.6%,), Gujarat (7.6%,) and Andhra Pradesh (7.0%).
• The potential of the dairy sector not only gives impetus to the rural economy, but is also a major source of livelihood for crores of people across the world.
• This sector provides employment to more than 8 crore families in the country.
• There are more than a third of the members of dairy cooperatives in India are women.

Challenges of this Sector

• There is an excessive number of unproductive animals which compete with productive dairy animals in the utilisation of available feeds and fodder.
• The grazing area is being reduced markedly every year due to industrial development resulting in shortage of supply of feeds and fodder to the total requirement.
• Veterinary health care centres are located in far off places and the ratio between cattle population and veterinary institution is wider, resulting in inadequate health services to animals.
• Further, no regular and periodical vaccination schedule is followed, regular deworming programme is not done as per schedule, resulting in heavy mortality in calves, especially in buffalo.
• Many cattle owners do not provide proper shelter for their cattles leaving them exposed to extreme climatic conditions.
• Unlike sugarcane, wheat, and rice-producing farmers, cattle raisers are unorganised and do not have the political clout to advocate for their rights.
• Though the value of milk produced outweighs the combined value of the output of wheat and rice in India, there is no official and periodical estimate of the cost of production and Minimum Support Price for milk.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT