World Milk Day | 02 Jun 2021

Why in News

Every year, the first day of June is observed as World Milk Day.

• On the occasion, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying announced the launch of the Gopal Ratna Awards and integration of e-Gopala App with UMANG platform.

Key Points

• About:
  
  • World Milk Day was established by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in 2001. The day is intended to provide an opportunity to bring attention to activities that are connected with the dairy sector.
    
    • FAO is one of the specialised agencies of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
• 2021 Theme:
  
  • Theme will focus on Sustainability in the dairy sector with messages around the environment, nutrition and socio-economics.
    
    • In doing so it will reintroduce dairy farming to the world.
• Gopal Ratna Awards:
  
  • They are National Awards for the Cattle and Dairy sector, the awards have been launched to promote the best herd of Indigenous Breed and practicing best management practices and it will be given in three categories:
    
    • Best Dairy farmer.
    • Best Artificial Insemination Technician (AIT).
    • Best Dairy Cooperative/ Milk producer Company/ Farmers Producer Organisation.
• e-Gopala (Generation of wealth through Productive Livestock) App:
  
  • It is a comprehensive breed improvement marketplace and information portal for direct use of farmers.
  • It provides solutions on the aspects of:
    
    • Managing livestock including buying and selling of disease-free germplasm in all forms (semen, embryos, etc.).
    • Availability of quality breeding services (Artificial Insemination, veterinary first aid, vaccination, treatment, etc.).
• Other Initiatives Related to the Dairy sector:
  
  • National Action Plan on Dairy Development 2022: It seeks to increase milk production and double the income of dairy farmers.
  • National Animal Disease Control Programme & National Artificial Insemination Programme: It was launched to control and eradicate the Foot & Mouth Disease (FMD) and Brucellosis amongst the livestock in the country,
  • Pashu-Aadhar: It is a unique ID on a digital platform for traceability for the animals.
  • Rashtriya Gokul Mission: It was launched in 2019 for setting up of 21 Gokul Grams as Integrated Cattle Development Centres.

Operation Flood (White Revolution)

• About:
  
  • The White Revolution in India was the brainchild of Dr Verghese Kurein. Under him many important institutions were established like the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).
  • The White Revolution was started by the NDDB in the 1970s and the bedrock of the revolution has been the village milk producers' cooperatives.
• Phases of the Revolution:
  
  • Phase I:
    
    • It started from 1970 and lasted for 10 years i.e. till 1980. This phase was financed by the sale of butter oil and skimmed milk powder donated by the European Union through the World Food Program.
  • Phase II:
    
    • It lasted for five years from 1981 to 1985. During this phase, the number of milk sheds increased from 18 to 136, milk outlets were expanded to about 290 urban markets, a self-sustaining system was set up that included 4,250,000 milk producers spread across 43,000 village cooperatives.
  • Phase III:
    
    • It also lasted for almost 10 years i.e. 1985-1996. This phase enabled the dairy cooperatives to expand and gave a finishing touch to the programme. It also strengthened the infrastructure required to procure and market increasing volumes of milk.
• Objectives:
  
  • Increase milk production ("a flood of milk").
  • Increase rural incomes.
  • Reasonable prices for consumers.
• Significance:
  
  • It helped dairy farmers direct their own development, placing control of the resources they create in their own hands.
  • It has helped India become the largest producer of milk in the world in 2016-17.
    
    • Currently, India is the world's largest milk producer, with 22% of global production.

Source: PIB