Key Facts:
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India has been the largest producer of milk in the world for the past 15 years.
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Per capita availability of milk has increased from 307 grams in 2013-14 to 351 grams in the year 2016-17.
What is the White revolution?
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Operation Flood led to the White revolution.
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It aimed to make India a self-dependent nation in milk production.
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National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) was launched it in 1970.
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Dr Verghese Kurien is the father of the White Revolution in India.
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Operation Flood promoted the AMUL model. Under this model, milk is procured from farmers’ co-operatives. The excess milk is converted to skimmed milk powder and get utilized during the lean season. The milk is distributed through an organized retail network.
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So far operation flood is the world’s biggest dairy development program.
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The Operation flood made India the world’s largest producer of milk.
Role of cooperatives in Operation Flood:
In India Majority of the dairy farmers own only small landholdings (households with two to five cows). But due to the development of co-operatives under Operation Flood, they were able to improve a lot. This includes,
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The small dairy farmers were able to avoid middlemen.
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They also started getting a guaranteed minimum procurement price for milk.
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It enhanced the knowledge and bargaining power of small and marginal farmers.
What next?
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To meet future challenges, it is necessary to gradually shift towards a technology-driven environment.
National Action Plan Vision 2022:
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Enhancing the outreach of dairy cooperatives to additional villages and milk producers.
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Building of additional milk processing infrastructure for processing additional volume of milk expected on account of higher milk production and meeting the increased demand for value-added products.