India produces179.98 lakh tones of indigenouscow milk in 2015-16

NEW DELHI:India produced total 17998710 tonnes ofindigenous cowmilk in during 2015-16. Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Sudarshan Bhagat informed this to the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The average milk yield per animal per day in rural area for indigenous cow is 3.41 kg.Government of India has been implementing some programmes to compliment and supplement State efforts to enhance milk production and productivity of Desi cows.

The programmes are (a) National Programme for Bovine Breeding & Dairy Development (NPBBDD); (b) Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM); (c) National Dairy Plan(d) National Livestock Mission and (e) Livestock Health andDisease Control (LHDC)

More than 71% of farm householdsare engagedinlivestock rearing and dairying activities. By increasing milk production and productivity of bovines, targets for doubling income of the farmers engaged in livestock rearing can be achieved.