New Delhi, Dec 19 (IANS): The overall milk situation in the country is stable with the year-on-year Wholesale Price Index and (WPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rates for milk recorded at low levels of 2.09 and 2.85, respectively, for the month of November 2024, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD) Secretary Alka Upadhyaya, said at a review meeting here, an official statement said on Thursday.

"There is an adequate commodity stock of skimmed milk powder, whole milk powder, white butter, and ghee. At the same time, there has been an improvement in milk procurement and milk procurement prices over the year,” she pointed out.

The Secretary also highlighted that India holds the top position globally in milk production, generating approximately 239.3 million metric tons in the year 2023-24, according to an official statement.

She advised all Milk Federations to take up active participation in the Midday Meal and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programs of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MoHRD), as these represent the largest institutional domestic market for the dairy sector.

The meeting was attended by representatives from the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), and the National Cooperative Dairy Federation of India (NCDFI) along with officials of the DAHD and State Cooperative Dairy Federations and Milk Unions across the country. The milk situation in the country and the progress being made by the State Milk Federations were discussed in detail during the review,

Upadhyaya emphasised that Dairy Federations should focus on enhancing milk procurement and increasing the price paid to the farmers, while also considering consumer interests.

During the meeting, the initiatives undertaken by the State Milk Federations such as Amul (Gujarat), Nandini (Karnataka), Saras (Rajasthan), and Megha (Jharkhand) were commended, and it was recommended that other Federations should undertake similar efforts.

DAHD is also consistently collaborating with the MoWCD and the MoHRD to promote the inclusion of milk in the Midday Meal and ICDS programmes. It was observed that commensurate with the production, consumption of processed dairy has increased by 20 per cent. A detailed discussion was held concerning the strategies and initiatives required to further enhance the processing of milk to value-added products and accordingly, detailed presentations were made by NDDB which also offered support to the states for evaluating projects under the National Programme for Dairy Development, particularly in light of evolving consumer preferences for packaged milk and value-added offerings, the statement added.