'Retail boom to help boost dairy sector'

TRADE TALK: O P Singh

. Excerpts:

How well equipped is the country's infrastructure to manage agricultural and dairy products?

Despite having the largest number of cattle and being the number-one milk producer in the world, the country lacks the infrastructure - which is still at a primitive stage - to diagnose diseases and adhere to food safety norms. We are aggressively planning to build infrastructure to support rural farmers and impart value-added technical services to help them upgrade the quality of food.

What about the measures in tackling diseases?

BV Biologicals, a division of our company, has deployed a large number of veterinary and diagnostic facilities and has built up a databank of diseases to take action at the regional level in addressing clinical surveillance, sero-monitoring (specifically for viral and bacterial diseases) and taking suitable steps to control diseases.

In the case of zoonotic diseases, we have created a Central Research Station in Pune to ensure timely detection of diseases and to spread awareness to prevent them. We have also started educating farmers on the importance of the quality of food products and techno-managerial actions to ensure it.

How can the dairy sector cash in on the retail boom?

The dairy sector needs to focus more on value-added products with advanced nutritional value, with the organised sector playing a major role. The organised sector handles only 18 per cent of the total dairy production.

But looking at the current boom in the organised retail, the proportion of the organised sector is likely to increase significantly in the future, with a rising importance of public-private partnerships in milk processing and value-added milk products.

India is estimated to produce 120 mt of milk by 2011. Of the total 95 mt output currently, 46 per cent is retained for self-consumption in rural areas, with the balance marketed throughout the country.

How is your company gearing up to meet the future challenges?

With liquid milk becoming a profitable business, more and more organised players are expected to enter the segment. The market has the potential to grow from the current size of Rs 2,30,000 crore to Rs 5,30,000 crore in the years ahead.

This will need significant infrastructure for preventive vaccinations, deployment of technical experts, segmented educational inputs and critical research on value-added products. All this will certainly encourage the Indian dairy farming community to meet international requirements at its best.