India Expands Dairy Infrastructure and Breed Improvement Efforts

Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, addressed the Lok Sabha, detailing the progress made under various central initiatives to enhance India's dairy and livestock sectors. As of June 2026, the National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD) has facilitated the creation of 36,611 new Dairy Cooperative Societies and strengthened 34,557 existing cooperatives. These efforts have resulted in an additional milk-chilling capacity of 168 lakh litres per day and the distribution of 76,748 quality-testing devices.

The Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) has sanctioned projects for processing and value addition with a total capacity of 418 lakh litres per day. Additionally, the Rashtriya Gokul Mission has made strides in genetic improvement, completing over 17.27 crore artificial inseminations in the last five years, benefiting 5.98 crore farmers.

Under the National Livestock Mission, 4,084 breed multiplication farms have been approved, and the production of 1.61 lakh metric tonnes of quality fodder seed has been supported. The mission also sanctioned 204 silage and Total Mixed Ration (TMR) units. The Entrepreneurship Development Programme within the mission has approved 4,291 projects, leading to the creation of 21,000 direct jobs and benefiting 91,000 farmers.

The Livestock Health and Disease Control Programme (LHDCP) continues to conduct mass vaccination campaigns against several diseases, including Foot and Mouth Disease and Brucellosis. A national mock exercise, Pashujanya Yudh Abhyas, was successfully conducted in Madhya Pradesh, testing emergency response mechanisms to potential zoonotic outbreaks.