The centre has shed light and clarified reports regarding the possibility of the import of certain dairy products by India amid rumours about the supply constraint for such items due to milk production remaining stagnant in the last fiscal year.
According to Rajesh Singh, Secretary of, the Animal Husbandry Dept., there were misleading reports regarding the possibility of the import of certain dairy products by India, but the government hasn’t taken any decision on it. Because of this, there is some apprehension among Indian dairy farmers and stakeholders.
A government official had earlier stated that the country may look at importing dairy products if needed. The government will intervene to import dairy products like butter and ghee, if required, after assessing the stock position of milk in southern states, where the flushing (peak production) season has already started.
Milk output in the country stood at 221 million tons in 2021–22, up 6.25 per cent from 208 million tons in the previous year, as per the official data. Addressing a press conference, Singh said the country’s milk production remained stagnant in the 2022–23 fiscal year due to lumpy skin disease in cattle, while domestic demand grew by 8–10 per cent in the same period because of a rebound in post-pandemic demand.
It was being said that, though there is no constraint on milk supply as such in the country as there is an adequate inventory of skimmed milk powder (SMP), in the case of dairy products, especially fats like butter and ghee, the stocks are lower than the previous year.
The government will intervene to import dairy products like butter and ghee, if required, after assessing the stock position of milk in southern states, where the flushing (peak production) season has started now, Singh said. He, however, observed that the imports may not be beneficial at this point in time as international prices in recent months have been firm.
“If global prices are high, there is no point in importing. We will assess the flush season in the rest of the country and then take a call,” he said. The shortage will be less in north India, where the lean season has been postponed with temperatures cooling down due to untimely rains in the last 20 days, he added. According to the secretary, the country’s milk output remained stagnant due to the impact of lumpy skin disease, which killed 1.89 lakh cattle last year, and the post-pandemic rebound in milk demand.
“The impact of lumpy skin disease on cattle can be felt to the extent that the total milk production is a little stagnant. Normally, milk production has been growing at 6 per cent annually. However, this year (2022-23), it will be either stagnant or grow at 1-2 per cent,” Singh said.
Since the government only takes into account the milk production data of the cooperative sector and not the entire private and unorganised sector, “we assume it will be stagnant,” Singh said.
It is a true rise in fodder prices that has led to milk inflation. There is a problem in fodder supply as the fodder crop area has remained stagnant in the last four years, while the dairy sector has been growing at 6 per cent annually, he added. India last imported dairy products in 2011.