Low Milk Production in India — A Note

ACCORDING, to the 1951 Census India 's total p roduc t ion of cow,

buffalo and goat m i l k was 5203.38 lakh maunds per day or 5.26 oz per capita of popula t ion . The 1956 cattle census showed total produc­tion down at 4777.36 lakh maunds and per capita product ion at 4.76 oz. , Per capita product ion had fur­ther fal len to 4.5 oz by 1957 ac­cord ing to the Abstract of Agr icul ­tural Statistics.

Dismal as these figures are. there are States, like Kerala and Assam, whose product ion per capita was less than a quarter of the a l l - India figure. ( See author's art icle in Economic Weekly). September 3, 1960) . That, however is not the whole story, for not all the mi lk that is produced is consumed. A con­siderable part of it is converted into products l ike ghee, curd, butler, khoa. chhana. etc. As a result, even in the so-called breeding tracts of India .only a small part of total mi lk product ion is consumed direct ly. The Report of the Vi l l age Enquiry into product ion and consumption of mi lk in seven breeding tracts showed that as many as 16 per rent of the famil ies in these areas d id not con some any mi lk . Tak ing the coun­t ry as a whole, the propor t ion of mi lk consumed directly was 37.5 per cent (4.97 oz per cap i ta l ac­cord ing to the 1951 census and 39,2 per cent (4.87 oz per cap i t a l ac­cording to the 1956 cattle census. In 15 of the pre-reorganisation States the consumption of milk as a p ropor t ion of total production varied f rom 18.9 per cent, in Madhya Pradesh, to about 50 per cent, in Himachal Pradesh. In Himachal Pradesh alone d i d the per capita consumption of mi lk approach the 10 oz prescribed by the Indian Council of Medical Research. Only in 6 of the pre-reorganisalion States was 50 per cent of mi lk pro­duce consumed in l i qu id f o r m . they were PEPSU 50.8 per cent (7.32 oz per capi ta) , Bihar 51.5 per cent (2.17 oz ) , Assam 56.7 per cent (0,73 oz) . Orissa 58.6 per cent (1.39 oz ). West Bengal 65.1 per cent (1.58 oz ). Delhi 80.5 per cent (2.59 oz) and Jammu and Kashmi r 51.7 per cent.

Even if the target for m i n i m u m consumption of m i l k is lowered to 7 1/2 oz, the a l l - India produc t ion wou ld have to be raised by nearly 43 per cent to achieve i t . The correspond­ing figures for each of the pre-reorganisation States would be as fo l lows: Vindhya Pradesh 12 per cent. Bihar 78 per cent. Hyderabad 99 per cent. Madras and Mysore 102 per cent. Bombay 121 per cent Delhi 133 per cent, Madhya Pra­desh 191 per cent. West Bengal 209 per cent. Orissa 215 per cent. Assam 183 per cent and Kerala 190 per cent. Madhya Bharat would have to raise- its product ion by 6 per cent

and U P by 7 per cent, whi le Pun­j a b , PEPSU. Rajasthan, Saurashtra and Himaehal Pradesh would have a surplus of 57, 48, 39, 48 and 63 per cent respectively.

These figures indicate the magni­tude of the task which lies ahead if a m i n i m u m per capita p roduc t ion and consumption of mi lk is to be achieved. They also reflect in some measure the overemphasis on the p roduc t ion of foodgrains which has characterised our food policies so far. Professor P C Mahalanobis in Ids Draf t Recommendations for the formula t ion of the Second Five Year Plan had drawn pointed attention to this f ac t

I Chatterjee