Low Milk Production in India — A Note
ACCORDING, to the 1951 Census India 's total p roduc t ion of cow,
buffalo and goat m i l k was 5203.38 lakh maunds per day or 5.26 oz per capita of popula t ion . The 1956 cattle census showed total production down at 4777.36 lakh maunds and per capita product ion at 4.76 oz. , Per capita product ion had further fal len to 4.5 oz by 1957 accord ing to the Abstract of Agr icul tural Statistics.
Dismal as these figures are. there are States, like Kerala and Assam, whose product ion per capita was less than a quarter of the a l l - India figure. ( See author's art icle in Economic Weekly). September 3, 1960) . That, however is not the whole story, for not all the mi lk that is produced is consumed. A considerable part of it is converted into products l ike ghee, curd, butler, khoa. chhana. etc. As a result, even in the so-called breeding tracts of India .only a small part of total mi lk product ion is consumed direct ly. The Report of the Vi l l age Enquiry into product ion and consumption of mi lk in seven breeding tracts showed that as many as 16 per rent of the famil ies in these areas d id not con some any mi lk . Tak ing the count ry as a whole, the propor t ion of mi lk consumed directly was 37.5 per cent (4.97 oz per cap i ta l accord ing to the 1951 census and 39,2 per cent (4.87 oz per cap i t a l according to the 1956 cattle census. In 15 of the pre-reorganisation States the consumption of milk as a p ropor t ion of total production varied f rom 18.9 per cent, in Madhya Pradesh, to about 50 per cent, in Himachal Pradesh. In Himachal Pradesh alone d i d the per capita consumption of mi lk approach the 10 oz prescribed by the Indian Council of Medical Research. Only in 6 of the pre-reorganisalion States was 50 per cent of mi lk produce consumed in l i qu id f o r m . they were PEPSU 50.8 per cent (7.32 oz per capi ta) , Bihar 51.5 per cent (2.17 oz ) , Assam 56.7 per cent (0,73 oz) . Orissa 58.6 per cent (1.39 oz ). West Bengal 65.1 per cent (1.58 oz ). Delhi 80.5 per cent (2.59 oz) and Jammu and Kashmi r 51.7 per cent.
Even if the target for m i n i m u m consumption of m i l k is lowered to 7 1/2 oz, the a l l - India produc t ion wou ld have to be raised by nearly 43 per cent to achieve i t . The corresponding figures for each of the pre-reorganisation States would be as fo l lows: Vindhya Pradesh 12 per cent. Bihar 78 per cent. Hyderabad 99 per cent. Madras and Mysore 102 per cent. Bombay 121 per cent Delhi 133 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 191 per cent. West Bengal 209 per cent. Orissa 215 per cent. Assam 183 per cent and Kerala 190 per cent. Madhya Bharat would have to raise- its product ion by 6 per cent
and U P by 7 per cent, whi le Punj a b , PEPSU. Rajasthan, Saurashtra and Himaehal Pradesh would have a surplus of 57, 48, 39, 48 and 63 per cent respectively.
These figures indicate the magnitude of the task which lies ahead if a m i n i m u m per capita p roduc t ion and consumption of mi lk is to be achieved. They also reflect in some measure the overemphasis on the p roduc t ion of foodgrains which has characterised our food policies so far. Professor P C Mahalanobis in Ids Draf t Recommendations for the formula t ion of the Second Five Year Plan had drawn pointed attention to this f ac t
I Chatterjee