Lessons from milk for agriculture

White Revolution, based on milk processing and distribution, provides pointers for horticulture

The recent farm loan waivers across states totalling around 1-1.5 per cent of 2017-18 gross domestic product (GDP) point to something fundamentally wrong with agriculture.  It has brought the issue of agricultural reforms to the centre stage. The waivers cannot be undone. But, they call for a scrutiny of the direction and pace of reforms in agriculture to put the sector on a path of sustainable growth. Three lessons from the White Revolution involving milk may be relevant in this context.

Production of milk had gone up in two decades from 17 million tonnes in 1951-52 to only 22 million tonnes