BUS11Business/BusinessNational Dairy Development Board proposes Rs.173 bn planAnand Gujarat, Nov 5 IANS India's leading dairy development agency, the National Dairy Development Board NDDB, has proposed a Rs.173 billion draft National Dairy Plan to increase the country's milk production from the current 102 million tonnes to meet the projected demand of 180 million tonnes by 2021-22.NDDB proposed the draft plan in its annual report for 2007-08, a NDDB press release said here Tuesday. NDDB has its headquarters here, also known as the milk capital of India, some 65 km from Ahmedabad, the principal city of Gujarat.The National Dairy Plan focuses on: i productivity measures to enhance milk production as the average annual incremental production will have to increase from 2.5 million tonnes now to 5 million tonnes over the next 15 years, and ii strengthening and expanding infrastructure to procure, process and market milk through existing and new institutional structures. The plan proposes to increase the share of the organised sector in milk production to 65 percent from the current 30 percent to ensure supply of quality milk to consumers."NDDB remains committed to assisting dairy cooperatives to strengthen their business and provide better services to their members," NDDB's chairman Amrita Patel said in the press release.NDDB is also implementing a complementary cooperative strategy by promoting producer institutions new generation cooperatives in about eight states, Patel said.India with a total milk production of 102 million tonnes remained the largest milk producing country in 2007-08 with a share of close to 15 percent of world milk production, the release said. A combination of factors, led by high growth of gross domestic product GDP in particular, has led to a rapid increase in the domestic demand for milk, it added. Producer prices for milk has continued to increase leading to a corresponding rise in consumer prices.During the year, dairy cooperatives procured about 8.3 million tonnes of milk, registering an annual growth of 5.4 percent, the statement said. On an aggregate, cooperatives procured about 14 percent of the national marketable milk surplus from around 21 percent of the country’s villages and an estimated 18 percent of rural milk-producing households. Cooperatives marketed about 6.9 million tonnes of liquid milk, an increase of 4.4 percent over the previous year, the statement said. Recognising the importance of increasing productivity, NDDB provided a range of technical and managerial services, including establishing standards and protocols for quality bull and semen production, the statement said. It also funded the production of genetically evaluated bulls through progeny testing, expansion of door-step artificial insemination AI services, ration balancing which can also contribute to reduction in methane emission amongst other services.--Indo-Asian News Servicevnb/arj/jg486 Words05111328