Dairy farming has been an important part of the agricultural scenario for thousands of years. India being a predominantly agrarian economy has about 70 per cent of its population living in villages, where livestock play a crucial role in the socio-economic life. Livestock provide high-quality foods such as milk, cheese, butter, ghee, etc. India is not only one of the top producers of milk in the world, but also the largest consumer of milk and milk products in the world. Due to the shortfall in supply, we have to import significant amounts of milk products to meet internal demand. Agriculture and animal husbandry have a symbiotic relationship, in which the agricultural sector provides feed and fodder for the livestock and animals provide milk, manure and draught power for various agricultural operations. Dairy sector is instrumental in bringing socio-economic transformation in India. It has created a lot of employment opportunities and also provides improved nutritional benefits.
The annual milk production in India in 2015–16 was 155.5 million tonnes and the per capita availability of milk was 337 grams per day. In India, milk is produced by a vast number of small, medium and large-sized farms. There is exponential growth in the number of the commercial dairy farms in the urban and semi-urban areas of the metros and big cities. It is clear from Fig.1.1 that 49 per cent of milk production comes from buffaloes, followed by 27 per cent, 21 per cent and 3 per cent from crossbred and exotic cows, indigenous cows and goats, respectively. Small quantity of milk is also procured from camel, sheep and yak. Uttar Pradesh is the largest milk producer in India, followed by Rajasthan. The per capita availability of milk is highest in Punjab, followed by Haryana (Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics, Government of India, 2017). It is interesting to note that in 2016–17, the percapita availability of milk was highest in Punjab at 1075 grams, followed by Haryana at 930 grams, whereas Delhi recorded a dismal 35 grams.
