Why In News?

The Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying inaugurated a laboratory in Sikkim under the National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD).

What Is The National Programme For Dairy Development?

  • Central Sector Scheme: The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) has run the NPDD since February 2014. It was restructured in July 2021 for the 15th Finance Commission cycle (2021–22 to 2025–26).

  • Core Objective: The scheme aims to improve the quality of milk and milk products and increase the share of organised procurement, processing, value addition and marketing.

  • Revised Outlay: In March 2025, the Cabinet added ₹1,000 crore, raising the total outlay to ₹2,790 crore for the 2021–26 cycle.

  • Implementing Agency: The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) works with state dairy federations, district milk unions, Milk Producer Companies, Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) to implement the scheme.

Two Components

  • Component A (Dairy Infrastructure): This component builds milk chilling plants, advanced milk testing laboratories and certification systems.

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  • Component B (Dairying through Cooperatives): This component is a JICA-assisted programme that improves production, processing and marketing infrastructure for cooperatives in nine states, including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan.

What Are The Key Targets And Achievements Of NPDD?

Revised Targets (2025)

  • New Cooperatives: The scheme will set up 10,000 new Dairy Cooperative Societies and two Milk Producer Companies.

  • Jobs For Women: It aims to create 3.2 lakh direct and indirect jobs. Women make up 70% of the dairy workforce.

Quality-Control Infrastructure Built

  • Village Labs: Over 51,777 village-level milk testing laboratories have been strengthened.

  • Chilling Capacity: 5,123 bulk milk coolers with a capacity of 123.33 lakh litres have been installed, along with 169 upgraded plant laboratories.

  • Adulteration Testing: Village testing has been strengthened with 4,009 Electronic Milk Adulteration Testing Machines and 22,795 Automatic Milk Collection Units.

Indian Dairy Sector 

  • World Leader: India has been the largest milk producer since 1998 and contributes about 25% of global output.

  • Rapid Growth: Milk production rose from 146 million tonnes (2014–15) to over 247 million tonnes (2024–25), a growth of 69.4% at a CAGR of about 6%.

  • Per Capita Availability: Per capita availability reached 485 grams per day in 2024–25, well above the global average of 328 grams.

  • Organised Market Access: Village-level chilling and testing let farmers sell to cooperatives at quality-linked prices instead of to unorganised middlemen.

  • Rural Livelihoods: Dairy provides steady daily cash income for small and marginal farmers and landless households.

What Are The Key Challenges In Indian Dairy Sector?

Quality And Safety Gaps

  • Contamination Over Adulteration: Feed-borne toxins and drug residues pose a bigger risk than deliberate adulteration.

    • Example: FSSAI’s National Milk Safety and Quality Survey 2018 tested 6,432 samples and found only 12 adulterated in ways that made the milk unsafe. However, 368 samples (5.7%) carried aflatoxin M1 above permissible limits, a toxin that reaches milk through unregulated cattle feed.

  • Quality Shortfalls: Many samples that are safe still fail basic quality standards.

    • Example: The same survey found that 41% of samples rated safe still failed at least one quality parameter, mostly low fat or low solids-not-fat content.

Regional And Productivity Gaps

  • Uneven Access: Milk availability varies widely across states, and the Northeast lags far behind.

    • Example: In 2024–25, Punjab had 1,318 grams per person per day, while Arunachal Pradesh had only 46 grams and Manipur just 41 grams.

  • Low Animal Productivity: High output comes from a huge herd, not high yields (Source: DAHD).

    • Example: Indigenous cattle yielded only 3.54 kg of milk per animal per day in 2024, far below global dairy averages. (Source: DAHD)

  • High Feed Costs: Feed and fodder make up 60–70% of the cost of milk production, which squeezes farmer margins. (Source: DAHD)

Scheme-Level Gaps

  • Thin Cooperative Coverage: Large parts of the country, especially the Northeast and hill states, still lack dense cooperative networks.

What Is The Way Forward For Indian Dairy Sector?

Strengthening Quality Systems

  • Regulate Cattle Feed: Bringing feed and fodder under quality standards would tackle aflatoxin at its source.

    • Example: After its 2018 survey, FSSAI identified unregulated feed as the root cause of aflatoxin M1, and recommended third-party audits and continuous monitoring of processing plants.

  • Empower Consumers: Simple testing tools help households check milk quality themselves.

    • Example: In September 2026, NDDB launched three milk adulteration testing kits for consumers, alongside a mobile milk collection unit with built-in quality testing and IoT monitoring.

Expanding The Cooperative Model

  • Replicate The Anand Pattern: Farmer-owned cooperatives that control procurement, processing and marketing deliver better prices to producers.

    • Example: Operation Flood, launched by NDDB in 1970, linked village cooperatives to urban markets on the Anand model. It turned India from a milk-deficit nation into the world’s largest producer.

  • White Revolution 2.0: The revised NPDD supports White Revolution 2.0 by providing new technology and quality testing labs to newly formed cooperatives.

    • Example: The revised scheme’s target of 10,000 new Dairy Cooperative Societies directly supports this goal, with a focus on uncovered villages.

Raising Productivity

  • Link NPDD With Breed Improvement: Quality infrastructure works best alongside higher-yielding herds.

    • Example: The revised Rashtriya Gokul Mission, approved alongside NPDD in March 2025, received a total outlay of ₹3,400 crore to improve indigenous breeds and raise yields.

Conclusion

NPDD has shifted India’s dairy story from sheer volume to quality and fair pricing. Its next test is to bring safe milk, strong cooperatives and better yields to lagging regions such as the Northeast.

Source: THENEWSMILL

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q. With reference to the National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD), consider the following statements:

  1. It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

  2. The core mandate of the scheme includes providing capital financing directly to set up public corporate milk enterprises to ensure fair market competition.

  3. It aims to enhance the quality of milk and increase the share of organized procurement, processing, value addition, and marketing.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2, and 3

Answer: (b)

Explanation:

Statement 1 is incorrect: NPDD is a Central Sector/Sponsored framework under the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD), Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying.

Statement 2 is incorrect: It focuses on strengthening existing cooperative networks and producer institutions rather than creating public corporate bodies.

Statement 3 is correct: It aims to improve milk quality and boost organized procurement and processing.