Verghese Kurien — Father Of White Revolution Who Transfigured Dairy Sector In Independent India
Verghese Kurien laid down the foundation stone of the Indian dairy sector. On the occasion of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav a glance at the journey of the Indian dairy sector so far.
India is the world’s largest milk-producing country, accounting for more than 22% of global and 57% of Asia’s total milk production. The milk production of India has grown from 17 million tonnes in 1951 to187.7 million tonnes in the year 2018-2019, as per the official government website of Invest India.
The same data shows that milk production in the country has grown at a compound annual growth rate of about 6.2 % to reach 209.96 mn tonnes in 2020-21 from 146.31 mn tonnes in 2014-15.
The boom that the sector has achieved in the past few years is due to the strong foundation and constant efforts taken by the authorities to make this industry efficient. The major credit for the establishment of this industry is given to Verghese Kurien. Also known as the "Father of the White Revolution" in India, Verghese Kurien was a social entrepreneur whose "billion-litre idea", Operation Flood, made dairy farming India's largest self-sustaining industry and the largest rural employment sector providing a third of all rural income.
Let us have a look at his contributions to the Indian Dairy sector and how it has shaped the present and future of this sector:
Who Is Dr Verghese Kurien?
Engineer and entrepreneur Verghese Kurien is credited with leading India's White Revolution, which used a network of farmer cooperatives to change the nation from a dairy importer to the largest milk producer in the world.
Kurien studied at Loyola College of the University of Madras (B.Sc, 1940), where he also received a 1943 bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.
He completed training in dairy engineering at the National Dairy Research Institute of Bangalore while pursuing his engineering studies at the Tata Iron and Steel Company in Jamshedpur, then in the state of Bihar (now Bengaluru).
Kurien attended Michigan State University on a government scholarship and graduated with a master's in mechanical engineering in 1948. He had to work at the Government Research Creamery in Anand, Gujarat state when he returned to India as a requirement of the scholarship, which he started doing in 1949.
Contribution Of Verghese Kurien In The Indian Dairy Sector
An established system in which small local dairies sold milk to a large supplier for very little money, and the supplier transported the milk to Bombay (now Mumbai) and sold it at a sizable profit, was being challenged at the time by a small cooperative of dairy farmers called the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union.
Sri Tribhuvandas Patel, the cooperative's chairman, requested Kurien's assistance in bolstering the group. Kurien took over as the cooperative's manager (which later came to be called Amul and became one of the largest food producers in India).
Under his direction, the company bought dairy processing and storage equipment and established itself as a dependable provider. It consequently enhanced the quality of life for rural dairy farmers.
On the basis of this model, further dairy cooperatives were established, and in 1965 Kurien was elected as the first chairman of the brand-new National Dairy Development Board.
Through the growth of the cooperative movement, he implemented Operation Flood, sometimes known as the "white revolution," a long-term initiative with the goal of increasing milk output while also boosting rural incomes and maintaining prices affordable for consumers.
He also founded the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation in 1973. Kurien got many awards and international recognitions, but two stand out in particular: the Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership and the (1963) World Food Prize (1989).
Significance Of The Indian Dairy Sector In Current Times
As per an article published by The Hindu Business Line about Indian Dairy Sector, this industry is crucial for ensuring food security, lowering global poverty, creating job opportunities for women, and giving rural people a steady source of income. Furthermore, dairy farming is a vital source of income for landless and disadvantaged farmers in developing nations.
Dairy is the only agri-product in which around 70 to 80% final market value is shared with farmers and it accounts for approximately one-third of rural household income in India.
According to the FAO 2018 report, more than 500 million people live in poverty, and many of them are small and marginal dairy farmers, hence we can say, this sector has improved farmer livelihood, creates jobs, supports agricultural industrialisation and commercialisation, and enhanced nutrition for the masses.
What Are The Different Challenges The Industry Is Facing?
Many of the difficulties listed below are mentioned in relation to one another and the difficulties that rural areas confront because this sector is strongly reliant on rural areas:
Lack Of Proper Packaging And Labeling System: The material used for the packaging of dairy products includes paper-based products (coated or lined), glass, tin plate, aluminium foil, wood (wood), polymers, and laminates are some of the materials used in packaging (Tetra packs), etc. The accessibility to these materials in rural areas is low, there’s a scope for improvement and in the packaging system in this sector.
Lack Of Market Intelligence: There is a lack of management in this sector, which leads to a lack of creativity and innovation, due to which many opportunities in this sector remain unnoticed and unexplored.
Lack Of Research/Consumer Behaviour Analysis: People involved in the sector do not have access to a mechanism that can make them understand the market needs and consumer behaviour. Basically, there is a lack of Research in this field.
Cold Chain (Transportation) And Storage Facility: Dairy products are perishable commodities, hence, their storage and transportation have to be fast. Although the current status of transportation in this industry is on track, storage and transportation are one of the biggest challenges in this sector.
What Are The Opportunities Under This Industry?
As per the data provided by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries following can be the basis of investment and exploration of new opportunities in the dairy industry:
The dairy and animal husbandry sector contributes around 4.2% of India's GDP. It is a primary source of income for about 7 crore rural families. Most of the milk producers are landless or small and marginal farmers.
The government spires to achieve a liquid milk production capacity of 255 MMT by 2022. value added dairy products (VAPDs) like butter are projected to grow by a 5.3% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from 2019-2025.
Dairy is the single largest agricultural commodity contributing 5% of the national economy, witnessing 6.4% (CAGR) in the past 5 years.
What Are Various Government Initiatives Taken For This Industry?
As per the information provided by Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Parshottam Rupala in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on 1st April 2022, the following are the initiatives taken by the government for the development of this sector:
- Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM)
- National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD)
- Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF)
- Supporting Dairy Cooperatives and Farmer Producer Organizations engaged in dairy activities (SDCFPO)
- Livestock Health & Disease Control Programme (LHDCP)
- National Livestock Mission (NLM)
- Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF)
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