If necessary, the government may consider importing dairy goods such as butter and ghee because milk output has remained static as a result of the effect of lumpy skin disease (LSD), which killed 1.9 lakh cattle last year.
In 2011, the country last imported dairy products. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Animal Husbandry will launch the Animal Pandemic Preparedness Initiative (APPI) as well as the World Bank-funded ‘Animal Health System Support for One Health’ project on April 14 as part of the National One Health Mission to prevent future outbreaks of such disease and deal with other diseases in livestock.
Animal husbandry and dairy secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh stated on April 5th that the country’s milk output remained unchanged in the fiscal year 2022-23 owing to lumpy skin disease in cattle, while domestic demand increased by 8-10% due to a resurgence in post-pandemic demand.