Dairy Development Phase wise

Phaase-1 It started in July 1970 and ended in 1981. The objective was to set up dairy cooperatives in 18 milk sheds
in ten states, so as to link them with the four best metropolitan markets of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. By the end of Phase-I, there were 13,000 village dairy cooperatives covering 15 lakh farmer families.

Phase-2 It covered the Sixth Plan period from 1981 to 1985. It was designed to build on the foundations of Phase­1 and on the IDA assisted dairy development programmes in Karnataka, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. By the end of Phase-2, there were 136 milk sheds, 34,500 village dairy cooperatives covering 36 lakh members.

Phase-3 It started in 1985 and its emphasis was on consolidating the gains of the earlier phases by improving productivity and efficiency of the cooperative dairy sector and its institutional base for long term sustainability. This phase came to a.n end in April 1996. By September 1996, about 73,300 dairy cooperative societies had been organised in 170 milksheds involving over 9.4 million farmer mem­bers.

Outstanding Results
1. The milk production in India increased from a level of 17 MT in 1950-51 to about 100.9 MT at the end of 2006-07.
2. The per capita availability of milk increased to about 246 gm per day in 2006-07 from a level of 124 gm per day in 1950-51.
3. Imports of milk solids have ended. India has also started exporting milk powder to some countries now.
4. Dairy industry and infrastructure have been expand­ed and modernised. A Milk Grid has been activated to offset regional and seasonal imbalances in milk production. A stable structure is now present to protect against politica1 instability .
5. About ten million small farmers in 70,000 villages are earning jointly an incremental income of more than Rs 2000 crore. 62 per cent of the milk procurement for 'Operation Flood' comes from small, marginal farmers and the landless.
6. Most of the dairy needs are met indigenously. 7. Genetic improvement of milch animals has been made possible by cross-breeding.