INDIAN DAIRY INDUSTRY AND CONSUMPTION OF MILK

CHAPTER II INDIAN DAIRY INDUSTRY AND CONSUMPTION OF MILK 2.1 INTRODUCTION As Indian economy is mainly based on agriculture, 70 per cent of the population is engaged in it directly or indirectly. But agriculture alone is unable to provide necessary employment and income to the farmers small and marginal in general and the landless labourers in particular (Madan Mohan, 1989). The All India Rural Credit Review Committee has also emphasized the need for providing subsidiary occupations to the peasants. Hence, the government through the Departments of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry has to encourage subsidiary and allied occupations to agriculture like dairy, fishery, poultry, sheep-rearing etc. The Operation Flood Programme was undertaken after the National Dairy Development Board was formed in 1965. The key objective of the programme was to create a strong network and linkage between procurement, processing and distribution of milk by the co-operative sector and thus linking the milk-producing village with the major urban markets. Simply speaking, it tried to achieve a two-fold objective: (i) increasing the production of milk market and (ii) making equilibrium of supply and demand in the milk market. As a result, with the inception of the Operation Flood Programme, the Dairy Development Movement in India and also the Dairy Industry has made remarkable progress. 2.2 MILK PRODUCTION The rearing of cattle and dairying go hand in hand with agriculture and it helps to improve the socio-economic conditions of the rural folk. It also provides continuous and regular employment to all the members of the family of the farmer. Dairying requires a lot of manual labour for its various kinds of operations like maintenance of animals, feeding, milking and marketing of milk. Besides, the dairy industry requires skilled and unskilled labour in procurement, processing and distribution of milk and thus it increases the employment potential in the country tremendously. The three major groups that make up the dairy industry are (i) Farmers who produce the milk, (ii) Processors who convert raw milk into whole and lower fat milk and (iii) Retailers who sell the final product (Kevin Lane Keller, 2008). Amul (NDDC) brought together 1.2 million farmers to create an integrated channel for supplying milk throughout the length and breadth of 8

the country (Ramesh Kumar, 2008).The main aim of the Indian dairy industry is to better manage the national resources to enhance milk production and upgrade milk processing using innovative technologies. It stands as one among the top five milk producing nations in the world. Indian dairy industry stands in such a position that it can be said as 'Oyster' of the global dairy industry, with opportunities galore to the entrepreneurs globally. The liberalized economy provides more opportunities for MNCs and foreign investors to realise the full potential of this industry. TABLE 2.1 MILK PRODUCTION IN INDIA AND THE SHARE OF TAMIL NADU (in 000 Tonnes) Year Production in India Percentage Production in TamilNadu Percentage Contribution of TamilNadu 2004-05 92,484 100 4,784 100 5.17% 2005-06 97,066 105 5,474 114 5.64% 2006-07 100,869 109 5,560 116 5.51% 2007-08 104,845 113 5,583 117 5.33% 2008-09 108,463 117 5,673 119 5.23% Source: Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, Chennai. Considering 2004-05 as the base year, the milk production in TamilNadu as well as the whole India shows a continuous raise in subsequent years. Milk production in India increased by 5%, 9%, 13% and 17% whereas in TamilNadu, it increased by 14%, 16%, 17% and 19% respectively during the period between 2005-06 and 2008-09 when compared with the base year. Table 2.1 also reveals the share of TamilNadu in India s total milk production. Contribution of TamilNadu is between 5 per cent and 6 per cent of total milk production in India and it is almost at a uniform rate. Indian Dairy industry comprises milk and other milk products like Ghee, Butter, Curd, Khoa etc. The following is India's milk product mix. 9

TABLE 2.2 INDIA'S MILK PRODUCT MIX Product Items Percentage in Total Production Fluid milk 46.0 Ghee 27.5 Butter 6.5 Curd 7.0 Khoa 6.5 Milk powders 3.5 Paneer & Chhana 2.0 Others, including Cream, Icecream 1.0 Total 100.0 Source: business@mapsofindia.com. The table 2.2 shows a major percentage of production is in the form of milk followed by Ghee, Curd, Butter, Khoa and others. Coimbatore District, the study area lies on the western part of Tamil Nadu and Tamil Nadu lies on southernmost part of India. The table 2.3 exhibits the quantity of milk produced in major milk producing Districts in Tamil Nadu and also the place occupied by Coimbatore District as a producer of milk. TABLE 2.3 THE TOP FIVE MILK PRODUCING DISTRICTS IN TAMIL NADU (in Tonnes) Districts 2004-05 Rank 2008-09 Rank Vellore 320 1 300 5 Erode 287 2 336 2 Villupuram 276 3 326 3 Thiruvannamalai 269 4 - - Salem 248 5 429 1 Coimbatore 248 5 303 4 Source: Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, Chennai. 10

Ranks have been assigned on the basis of Districtwise milk production in Tamil Nadu. Except in Vellore, all other Districts show a considerable increase in milk production. As regards Coimbatore, the production has been increased from 248 tonnes to 303 tonnes in a span of five years showing an increase of 22 per cent in milk production. Its place in milk production has also been improved from five to four within the said period. 2.3 MILK AND ITS CONSUMPTION Food is the only source of energy for human beings. The dietary sheet of oneself must change according to the requirements of energy. The purpose of food, is thus, to produce energy, facilitate body-building and regulate body processes. Therefore, selection of food items should be planned on the basis of their nutritive value. Among such energetic food items, milk is a nutritious, balanced and easily digestible diet. The importance of milk as an essential part of one's daily intake is recognized all over the world. Though it is necessary for all, it is a regular dietary requirement for the children, the aged, the sick, the nursing and the expectant mothers. Milk is the normal secretion of the mammary glands. Milk has been defined as "the integral part of complete and uninterrupted milking of the female milch animal in good health, well-nourished and not over-worked. It ought to be collected in the proper manner and contain no colostrums (Madan Mohan, 1989). Milk may also be defined as the whole fresh, clean lacteal secretion obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy milch animals, excluding that obtained within 15 days before or 5 days after calving. Even though milk of different species contains almost same chemical constituents, the proportion of the constituents varies. Hence properties and nutritive value of milk vary widely between species and even between animals of the same species to some extent (Ibraheem Kutty and Sheeba Khamer, 2004). Milk should be practically colostrums free and should contain the minimum prescribed percentages of milk fat and milk solids not fat (MSNF). In most of the states in India, the standards prescribed require minimum percentage of fat in cow milk is 3.5 and solids not fat (SNF) 8.5 per cent (Madan Mohan, 1989). 11

Milk is nearly a complete food for human beings. It provides almost all essential nutrients such as body building proteins, bone forming minerals, health giving lactose and milk fat. It contains all these nutrients in an easily digestible and assimilable form. The prime importance of protein in human life was appreciated from early days. It is generally accepted that 50 to 55 grams daily protein intake is sufficient for an adult. It is seen that of all the common food items, milk has the highest biological value next to egg. Even though the protein content in milk is the lowest among all food items, it has more PER than many other food items, occupying third place in PER among food items listed in the table 2.4. TABLE 2.4 THE PROTEIN CONTENT OF SOME COMMON FOODS (Per 100 grams of Edible portion) Food Protein Biological value PER Rice 8.0 68 2.2 Wheat 12.0 65 1.5 Maize 11.0 59 1.2 Bengal gram 20.0 68 1.7 Soyabean 40.0 64 1.7 Groundnut 25.0 55 1.7 Egg 13.0 94 3.9 Milk 3.4 84 3.1 Mutton 18.0 74 2.3 Fish 17.0 76 3.5 Beef 20.0 74 2.3 PER : Protein Efficiency Ratio Source: Sundaresan (1981), Strategy for Milk Production Enhancement in the Decade of Eighties. 12

All the constituents of milk excluding water is usually denoted by the term total solids, which in turn usually categorized into fat and solids not fat (SNF). The quantity of water in milk varies from 86 to 88 per cent. Water serves as a medium for solution or suspension of other constituents. Water can be separated from other solids by evaporation. The fat in milk is its most prized constituent and the higher the fat content the richer the milk. The table 2.5 shows the recommended daily intake of milk suggested by Nutrition Expert Group of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). TABLE 2.5 RECOMMENDED DAILY INTAKE OF MILK (in grams) Age group Vegetarians Non-vegetarians 3-6 300 200 7-18 250 200 19 & above 200 160 Source: Agriculture Commission Report (1976). In case of vegetarians, milk is the only source of animal protein. Hence the recommended daily intake for vegetarians is higher than the non-vegetarians in all age groups. TABLE 2.6 PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF MILK PER DAY Year Consumption (grams) 2004-05 210 2005-06 231 2006-07 232 2007-08 233 2008-09 235 Source: Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, Chennai. 13

Per capita consumption of milk given in the table 2.6 shows a higher side when compared with recommended daily intake of milk by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) with regard to non-vegetarians. But as regards vegetarians the actual consumption per day is greater in case of adults whereas it is lesser in case of age group below 18 years of age when compared with recommendation of ICMR. According to Kurup (2000), with rising incomes, high income elasticity of demand and population growth, the demand for milk would grow at the rate of seven per cent per annum, pushing the total annual demand of milk upto 170 million mt, by 2020. 2.4 BRANDED MILK Production of milk is confined to rural areas in most of the countries while its demand is found in all areas. Unprocessed raw milk can be stored at room temperature without spoilage for 8-10 hours only (Ibraheem Kutty and Sheeba Khamer, 2004). Such milk, if sold by the producers directly to consumers or to private milk vendors who in turn supply it to the households, is known as unbranded milk. However, milk sold to large scale collection distribution systems are usually processed at special processing centres called dairy plants to improve the keeping quality of milk by reducing bacterial count. Such processed milk by the dairy plants are branded and supplied in their brand names. Earlier, Aavin was the only branded milk produced by Tamil Nadu government. Later on many private producers entered this field to meet the excess demand condition. In India dairy industry is not organized as in developed countries and organized dairy farms are very few in number. Through the establishment of dairy co-operatives, organizing of small scale dairy producers has become possible. Dairy co-operatives collect milk produced by the producers through their societies, transport it to regional dairy plants and distribute it to consumers through organized retail outlets. In order to encourage production of better quality cow milk, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has introduced the policy of two axis pricing system based on the relative values of fat and SNF in milk. Such a system ensures payment of milk based on its compositional quality and discourages adulteration of milk with water. Milk being highly perishable commodity, milk collected has to be processed at the earliest in order to minimize quality deterioration. If the distance from collection centres to the processing plants are more milk has to be cooled before transporting to dairy plants. For this, 14

chilling plants are established at convenient places, wherein milk from the nearby locality are cooled to around 4-5 o C so as to minimize deterioration and transported to dairy plants. Such milk is subjected to certain preliminary examination in order to assess its general quality and decide whether to accept or reject. During and after milking there will occur entry of bacteria into milk and all these organisms start multiplying so that as time goes on, bacterial count of milk goes on increasing until it is subjected to suitable processing methods. Deterioration is fast when the bacterial count of milk is high and also when the holding temperature is more. Processing of Milk Receiving milk (Grading, Sampling, Weighing, Testing) Pre-cooling Storage (in raw milk storage tank) Standardisation Pre-heating Filtration/clarification Pasteurisation/Sterilisation Homogenisation Bottling/Packaging Storage Distribution Source: Ibraheem Kutty and Sheeba Khamer (2004), Milk Production and Processing. 15

Standardisation is the process of adjusting the fat / Solids Not Fat (SNF) content of milk to certain pre-determined level. Adjustment can be either raising or lowering the fat / SNF content is done adding skim milk (fat removed milk) or cream (fat rich portion) as required. Filtration/Clarification is the process of removing visible foreign bodies which have gained entry into the milk. This can be hair, milk clots, insects, dung particles, soil or dust particles. Filtration involves pouring of milk through strainers fitted with suitable wire mesh or muslin cloth. Clarification is by subjecting the milk to centrifugation so that centrifugal force causes the foreign particles to become sediment, and is done using clarifier. Pasteurization is the most common method of processing and is done to render milk safer for human consumption by destroying all pathogenic organisms and to improve the keeping quality of milk by reducing bacterial count. At the same time pasteurization avoids major changes in physico chemical qualities of milk and nutritional value. Sterilization is another type of processing of milk and refers to the process of heating milk continuously to a temperature of 115 o C for 15 minutes or 145 o C for 3 seconds or equivalent time temperature combination, to ensure preservation of milk at room temperature for a period not less than 15 days. Homogenization is the process of breaking the fat globules present in the milk into smaller ones by forcing the milk through a homogenizer. Purpose of this is to ensure uniform suspension of fat globules throughout the milk and thus to prevent the formation of cream layer. Bottling/packaging is done in suitable containers, considering the convenience of storage and distribution. Bottles can be reused after sterilization, but requires more space and care of handling. Now a days plastic bags are used for packaging so that it is very convenient to use and can be disposed after the use. Thus it is more cheap, but produces disposal problems and pollution. Packages are properly sealed to avoid post pasteurization contamination and are further cooled to minimize bacterial activity. 2.5 PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES Precautionary measures for minimizing bacterial contamination ensures clean milk production and they are summarized below. 16

TABLE 2.7 PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES FOR MINIMIZING BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION Source of contamination Interior of udder Exterior of udder Surroundings Milker Utensils Precautionary Measures Thoroughly wash the udder before milking and mop dry. Discard first few stripping of milk. Practice teat dipping with antiseptics after milking. Frequently screen for sub-clinical mastitis and treat the cases treat systemic diseases if any Wash the hind quarters of the animal prior to milking. Wash the udder with antiseptics and water before milking. Dry the udder using a clean towel. Control the animal properly and tie the tail Avoid milking at damp places and dusty atmosphere. Avoid feeding of mashes during or just before milking. Use partly covered milking pails. Control insects Wash the hands thoroughly and cut nails. avoid personnel with respiratory diseases from milking. Insist clean clothes and preferably face mask. Avoid habits like smoking and chewing during milking, insist scientific milking methods and complete milking Store the utensils in clean and dry places. Thoroughly clean and sterilize using suitable methods. Avoid chances of post sterilization contamination Source: Ibraheem Kutty and Sheeba Khamer (2004), Milk Production and Processing. All precautionary measures described for clean milk production are very important to minimize the bacterial load to keep the quality of milk. The Indian dairy industry must consider seriously the issues like animal welfare, drug, pesticide residues etc., in order to protect the welfare of the consumers. 2.6 CONCLUSION India over the years continues to be the largest producer of milk in the world with a production of over 98 million tonnes every year (Gandhi, 2007). Nearly half of the milk produced in the country is mainly used as milk and the remaining is processed for 17

making a wide range of value added products. According to a consumer survey conducted by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), the consumption of livestock products, particularly milk, has gained popularity in the last two decades both in rural and urban areas (Patel, 2007). The future of Indian dairy industry is promising and its growth potential is high as there is sufficient domestic demand and good scope for the export of milk and milk products. Today, the country is exporting a wide range of dairy products. The government of India has set up a full fledged ministry especially for the food processing industries, namely, Ministry of Food Processing Industries. The ministry over the years has been engaged in the development of food processing industries including dairy industry. To boost milk and milk based products, it extends financial support for setting up new units, modernization and upgradation of existing units. In addition, the Agricultural and Processed food products Export Development Authority (APEDA) functioning under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, since its inception in 1986 has been playing a major role in promoting the export of agricultural commodities and processed foods including milk and milk based products by providing various services to the trade and industry. 18

REFERENCES Agriculture Commission Report. (1976). No VII, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Government of India, New Delhi, p 2. Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services. (2010). Chennai, p.46. Gandhi, G.P. (2007). Dairy Industry Calls for Modernisation, Facts for You, April, p.23. Ibraheem Kutty and Sheeba Khamer. (2004). Milk Production and Processing, Delhi, Daya Publishing House, pp.89 122. Kevin Lane Keller. (2008). Best Practice Cases in Branding, Delhi, Pearson Education Inc and Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc., pp 29-54. Kurup. (2000). Milk Production in India : Perspective 2020, Indian Dairy Man, January, Volume 52, p.25. Madan Mohan, C. (1989). Dairy Management in India, Delhi, Mittal Publications, pp 9-33. Patel, A.M. (2007). Dairy Industry and Development, Jaipur, Shree Niwas Publications, p.15. Ramesh Kumar, S. (2008). Managing Indian Brands, Marketing Concepts and Strategies, Delhi, Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., pp 285-287. Sundaresan, D. (1981). Strategy for Milk Production Enhancement in the Decade of Eighties, National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal, pp 3-4. Website: business@mapsofindia.com 19