India's dairy production achieves nominal growth in 2024 - GAIN

 The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service post in India forecasts India’s herd size of cows in milk at 62 million head in 2025, less than a 1% growth from 2024, according to a recent US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report.

The government’s increased support for the advancement of the national dairy sector, along with the expectations of high milk prices, good weather, steady availability of fodder, and an absence of a major disease outbreak, all influence the increased herd size.

Cow milk production: India’s cow milk production is expected to reach 103.2 MMT in 2025, up from 101 MMT in 2024. In addition to the steadily growing herd size, various other factors that augmented milk production in 2024, are anticipated to boost milk production in 2025 as well. 

These factors include:

Government support: India’s fiscal year 2024-25 budget, includes higher fund allocations for the advancement of the dairy and livestock sector. The government offers both financial and technical assistance. The financial support facilitates credit options and low-rate interest opportunities for the purchase of animals which establishes entrepreneurship and a living wage for milk farmers. The technical support enhances dairy infrastructure, marketing, quality control, feed and fodder availability, animal breeding and healthcare, livestock insurance, and more.

Improving milk yield: Although India’s milk yields lag behind other major milk- producing countries, there has been improvement in both cow – indigenous and crossbred – and buffalo sectors.

Remunerative occupation: Farmers in India continue to receive lucrative prices, especially in regions with active dairy cooperatives. The procurement price by dairy cooperatives often acts as a floor price. Dairy cooperatives collect all the milk that the farmer members have to offer at a price that often covers the cost of production. Prices of fluid milk and milk fat, are rising steadily in India. There are also government programs that facilitate loans for cooperatives to pay favourable prices to farmers, mostly in the form of bonuses.

Good weather: As per India’s Metrological Department (IMD) India received 749 millimeters (mm) of rainfall, against the normal 701 mm, between June 1 and September 1, 2024, and is expected to continue receiving above-normal rainfall in many parts of the country in September. The surplus to normal range rainfall and cooler weather over a longer period increased availability of fodder and forage crops for higher milk production. The expectation of a cooler winter and another good monsoon season in 2025 are also boosting milk production.

No major disease outbreak: Although India continues to grapple with a few cattle diseases like Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Brucellosis, these are not likely to cause significant reductions in milk production. In 2024, the livestock sector recovered from the Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) that caused widespread cattle mortality and morbidity in 2023.