Maharashtra has tremendous potential in dairy sector: Radha Mohan Singh

A French dairy farmer who collects milk from his cows is seen in his farm in La Planche near Nantes,dairy

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said Maharashtra throws a tremendous potential for the dairy sector.

Singh was speaking after inaugurating Nagpur Dairy Plant and a Mother Dairy milk booth in Nagpur.

"There is a tremendous potential for working on the development of dairy in Maharashtra. In Nagpur, Vidarbha and Marathwada..., the dairy profession can be a major source of livelihood for rural households," Singh said in an official statement.

Singh said that according to the data of May 28, 2017, the total production of milk in 2015-16 reached 156 million tonnes, which is an increase of 6.28 per cent annually.

"Milk production during 2014-17 has increased by 16.9 per cent when compared to the year 2011-14. Per capita availability of milk in India is 337 gram/day while world average is only 299 gram/day," he added.

Singh said Maharashtra's milk production increased from 9.54 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 10.1 million tonnes in the year 2015-16 with a growth rate of 6.4 per cent, which is more than country's growth rate, but per capita availability of milk has been 239 gram/day in 2015-16 which is substantially lower than national average.

On this occasion, Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis were also present.

In a separate statement, Mother Dairy said it will invest around Rs 65 crore to upgrade the Nagpur plant and setting up of milk procurement network in the regions of Marathwada and Vidarbha.

A part of the investment would also be made towards development of sales network across the city with 100 milk booths at key spots.

"The milk procurement set up in the initial 3 years will cover around 3,000 villages across 11 districts covering about 60,000 farmers," it added.