National Milk Day 2025 

Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD)

Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India

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🎯 Significance of National Milk Day

• Celebrated every year on 26 November

• Marks the birth anniversary of Dr. Verghese Kurien

  • “Father of White Revolution”

  • Architect of Operation Flood

  • Founder of NDDB & Amul Cooperative Movement

• Aim: To honour dairy farmers and highlight the economic contribution of the dairy sector

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🚀 Major Launches & Announcements

1️⃣ National Gopal Ratna Awards 2025

Awarded in three categories:

1. Best Dairy Farmer (indigenous breeds)

2. Best Artificial Insemination Technician

3. Best Dairy Cooperative Society / Milk Producer Company / Dairy FPO

Purpose:

• Recognise excellence in breed conservation, productivity, and cooperative success

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2️⃣ Guidelines for Minimum Standards of Veterinary Infrastructure

Ensures uniform veterinary healthcare across the country

📌 4-Tier Veterinary Services Structure

Tier	Institution Type	Focus
Tier-1	Primary Veterinary Care Centres (PVCCs)	Basic services, rural outreach
Tier-2	Block-Level Veterinary Hospitals	Disease control & surgeries
Tier-3	District-Level Veterinary Hospitals	Diagnostics & specialised care
Tier-4	State-Level Polyclinics / Referral Centres	Research, advanced treatment

Goal: Equitable animal healthcare delivery in all states

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3️⃣ Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics (BAHS) 2025

• Most authoritative livestock database

• Backbone for:

  • Policy architecture

  • Scientific breeding programs

  • Private sector investment planning

Sections include:

• Milk, meat, egg, wool production

• Breed composition & genetic resources

• Disease prevalence & veterinary access

→ Helps track growth under Government schemes:

RGM, NADCP, NPDD, AHIDF, NLM, NPCBB etc.

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4️⃣ Strengthening Milk Supply Chain: NPDD + JICA

📌 Flagged off 20 modern insulated milk tankers

• Commissioned: Ropar Milk Union, Punjab

• Under the National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD)

• Supported by JICA Project: Component-B — Dairying through Cooperatives

Benefits:

• Reduction in spoilage

• Better cold chain reliability

• Assured farmer returns

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5️⃣ Launch of 9 Breed Multiplication Farms

Focus:

• High-quality female calves

• Scientific Artificial Reproductive Technologies:

  • IVF

  • Sex-sorted semen

  • Embryo transfer

• Expanding access to elite indigenous breeds

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📈 Dairy Sector Performance Highlight

• Milk availability in India: 485 grams/day

• Global average: 329 grams/day

India retains its position as:

• World’s largest milk producer

• 22% of global milk production

Contribution:

• ~5% of India’s GDP

• ~1/4th of agricultural GDP

• Supports 8 crore dairy farmers

  • A majority women-led microenterprises

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• Dairy sector = backbone of rural economy

• Villages are a real economic strength

• Urged farmers to:

  • Adopt scientific breeding

  • Enhance productivity & profitability

• Appreciation for Gopal Ratna awardees

• Reforms require:

  • Genetic improvement

  • Technology adoption

• Dairy cooperatives = inclusive wealth creation

• Need for:

  • Expanding veterinary services

  • Wider use of ART technologies

• Livestock sector → critical growth opportunity

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🧠 Panel Discussions

Theme:

✨ “Enhancing animal productivity – Experience sharing with technical experts & progressive farmers” ✨

Discussions covered:

• Optimal feeding strategies

• Breed-wise productivity improvement

• Climate-resilient livestock management

• Nutrition, fodder security, disease control

Farmers shared:

• Ground innovations

• Marketing models

• Cooperative success stories

→ Knowledge exchange → Scalable best practices

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🇮🇳 Constitutional Observance

• Preamble reading by all participants

• Reinforcement of:

  • Justice

  • Liberty

  • Equality

  • Fraternity

Symbolic reminder:

Agriculture and livestock are engines of social justice in India

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🧩 UPSC Prelims Pocket Notes – Key Facts to Memorise

Topic	Fact
Indigenous breed promotion	National Gopal Ratna Awards
Veterinary access	New 4-tier uniform standards
Cold chain strengthening	NPDD + JICA supported milk tankers
Policy data	BAHS 2025 launched
Productivity focus	IVF, sex-sorted semen, embryo transfer
Major achievement	485 g/day milk availability in India
Cooperative role	Grassroots wealth creation

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📝 UPSC Mains Enrichment

Keywords to use in GS-3 answers

• Women-led dairy entrepreneurship

• Genetic gain acceleration

• Last-mile veterinary access

• Cold chain expansion

• Climate-smart dairying

• Co-operative empowerment model (Amul)

Can be linked to:

• Doubling Farmers’ Income

• Atmanirbhar Bharat

• Nutrition Security

• Rural Non-Farm Employment

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🔍 Sample Mains Question (GS-3)

Discuss the role of technology and veterinary infrastructure reforms in enhancing animal productivity in India’s dairy sector.