World Milk Day: NDRI focuses on role of dairies in providing quality nutrition

Karnal (Haryana) [India], June 1 : A workshop was organised at the National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal on Saturday on World Milk Day. In the workshop, dairy scientists discussed in detail about increasing milk productivity in animals and promoting quality milk.
Dr. Dheer Singh, Vice Chancellor and Director, of the National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, said that being a leading institute in the dairy sector, the National Dairy Research Institute has set many records in the dairy sector. India ranks first in the world in milk production. The National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal is constantly working towards ensuring the availability of one litre of milk per person in the country. Much is yet to be achieved to meet the dairy demand in the country. He informed that today the gross value of the dairy sector has reached Rs 10 lakh crore which is a major achievement.
According to an estimate, to meet the country's demand for milk and its products amid the growing population, India needs to produce 330 MMT of milk per year by 2033.
Dr. Dheer Singh while congratulating the producers and consumers on Milk Day, said that this year's theme will focus on celebrating the important role of dairy in providing quality nutrition to nourish the world. Dairy is an accessible, affordable and nutrient-rich food and is an essential part of a balanced diet around the world.
The director informed that India ranks first in the world by producing about 24.64 per cent of global milk production. Despite being the largest milk-producing country in the world, India is struggling with low productivity of dairy animals. For this, we have to improve the nutrition of our dairy animals and also focus more on indigenous animals as they are more tolerant to climate change.
After India, countries like America, China, and Brazil come to the list of milk production. More than 64 crore litres of milk is consumed in India every day. The availability of milk in the country is about 459 grams per person, while in the state of Haryana, the availability of milk per person is 1098 grams per day. Efforts are being made to ensure that the availability of milk per person in the entire country is one litre.
Director of National Camel Institute Bikaner, Dr Artabandhu Sahu and Director of National Goat Research Institute Mathura, Dr Manish Kumar said that apart from cows and buffaloes, goats and camels are also known for their medicinal milk which is useful in many diseases. We are emphasising on commercialization of their milk so that the income of farmers increases and people's health is also good. He said that camel milk is best for dengue, malaria, fever, diabetes and other diseases. He said that heat does not affect these animals and their milk productivity remains intact even in summer days. In other dairy animals, milk productivity decreases in summer and winter days. He said that in his institute, work is being done on many levels like increasing milk production, medicinal properties of milk and preparing climate-tolerant animals etc.