World Milk Day 2025
Context: World Milk Day 2025 celebrates dairy's vital role in nutrition, rural livelihoods, and India’s transformation from a milk-deficient nation to the world’s largest milk producer.
Important Pointers:
Theme: Let’s Celebrate the Power of Dairy – celebrating dairy as nourishment, livelihood, and economic driver.
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Declaration: Established in 2001 by FAO to honour milk’s global significance.
India’s Role: India celebrates World Milk Day recognizing milk as vital to nutrition, economy & rural empowerment.
India's Milk Journey: From milk deficit in the 1950s to the world’s largest milk producer since 1998. 2023-24 Production: India produced 239.2 million tonnes, up from 146.3 MT in 2014-15 (63.56% growth).
Per Capita Availability: Increased to 471 grams/day in 2023-24 vs the world average of 322 grams/day.
Top State: Uttar Pradesh (16.21% share); West Bengal fastest growth (9.76% over 2022–23).
Livestock Strength: India has 303.76 million bovines, 74.26 million goats, and 536.76 million total livestock.
Farmer Base: Over 8 crore farmers engaged in dairying; 18 million are part of cooperative dairy networks.
Women Participation: 35% of cooperative members are women; 48,000+ women dairy cooperatives.
Economic Contribution: Dairy contributes 5% to GDP, India’s largest agricultural commodity.