Milk Production Severely Hit in India, Country May Import Dairy Products

Lumpy skin disease in cattle caused the milk output in India to remain stagnant for more than a year, triggering a probable decision to import dairy products.

Written by: Arjita Gupta

Edited by: Krutarth Ghosalkar

Last Updated: April 06, 2023

According to a top government official on Wednesday, India may consider importing dairy goods like butter and ghee if necessary due to a supply shortage for those items caused by sluggish milk output in the previous fiscal year. He added that the milk production in India remained unchanged in 2022–2023 owing to lumpy skin disease in cattle. The government will step in to import dairy goods after reviewing the stock situation of milk in Southern states in which the flushing season has begun.

India produced 221 million tonnes of milk in 2021–2022, up from 208 million tonnes in the previous year to it. Rajesh Kumar Singh, the Animal Husbandry and Dairy Secretary, said during a news conference that a recovery in post-pandemic demand was the reason why domestic demand increased by 8–10% during the same time period. According to him, there is no actual limitation on milk supply in the nation.

There is a sufficient supply of skim milk powder (SMP). But, the stockpiles of dairy products, particularly fats like butter and ghee, are lower than they were last year. Singh noted that enterprises are currently being ruled by worldwide prices, thus importing dairy goods may not be advantageous at this moment. Before making a decision, we will evaluate the flush season in the entire nation.

He also recalled that the shortfall will be lower in north India. This is because of a delay in the lean season causing the temperatures to drop as a result of the unseasonably early rainfall in the past 20 days. He continued by saying that the cause of milk inflation is a real increase in the cost of feed. The availability of fodder is insufficient because it hasn't increased in the last four years while the dairy industry has been expanding at a 6% yearly rate. Previously, it was in 2011 that India had to import dairy products.