-Financial Express Milk is the largest crop in India in terms of value—at `6.5 lakh crore, it’s more than the total value of paddy and wheat put together At the recently concluded annual session of the International Dairy Federation’s World Dairy Summit in the scenic city of Daejeon in South Korea, India was the toast of the world. From a largely captive market—despite being the world’s largest milk producer—the country is emerging...

-The Indian Express Only 21 per cent of India’s milk production gets processed through the organised sector and the rest passes through unorganised small players. And that’s where the crisis is most intense. Farmers, who had high expectations from the Narendra Modi government, are a disillusioned lot today. Market prices of several crops have remained well below their minimum support prices (MSPs). Moreover, milk prices have fallen by 20 per cent...

-The Indian Express Dairy farmers in Gujarat, till recently, were relatively insulated from the crisis faced by those growing cotton, groundnut or potatoes. Rajkot/ New Delhi: AFTER COTTON and groundnut, it’s milk that is turning sour for Gujarat’s farmers. A crash in global skimmed milk powder (SMP) rates, coupled with surging procurement by dairy unions affiliated to the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), has led to an unprecedented glut. In the last...

-The Indian Express Agricultural growth in Uttar Pradesh can be achieved by putting dairy in the lead role. State’s new chief minister has his task cut out for him Yogi Adityanath’s taking over as Uttar Pradesh chief minister has been criticised by several political pundits who say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has picked “cow over development”. They may soon have to bite the dust, like the economic pundits, who had...

-The Indian Express Again, going by NSSO data, while 11.9 per cent of an average Indian agricultural household’s monthly income comes from “farming of animals”, it is well over 24 per cent for Gujarat. Gujarat has a relatively low per agricultural household debt of Rs 38,100, as against the all-India average of Rs 47,000, according to the National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) data for 2012-13. Also, 79.2 per cent of the state’s...