Telugu States rank third in milk production

​Hyderabad: Principal Secretary of Animal Husbandry Department of Telangana, Suresh Chanda said on Wednesday that Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States were at the third place, while Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan ranked first and second respectively in the country in respect of milk production.

He was speaking at a workshop on Sustainable Livestock Development and Dairy Management being organised by the Federation of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTAPCCI).

Chanda said that milk production in India had increased and the total production in the country crossed 140 million metric tons per day. “We can proudly say that we are producing a good quantity of milk.

But the fact is, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states' average milk production rate is 3 to 4 litres, whereas Haryana produces 10 to 20 litres per day,” he said. Sustainability meant at least 10 percent return on investment, he said and added that more than 60 per cent of the production cost went towards feed.

Stating that dairies used a lot of energy, which cost Rs 8 per unit to preserve the stored stock, he said there were many reasons for ineffective milk production.

Issues like water scarcity, inefficiently fed animals and many others were plaguing the milk production industry. He said that farmers fed an animal up to three years for milk, but even then they were not getting milk as expected. There was a need to feed the animal from its second month in a scientific manner to get expected results.

Ravindra Modi, president of FTAPCCCI, P Radha Krishnan, chief general manager of NABARD, Jitender Reddy, chairman of Livestock Development Agency, Arun Luharuka, vice president of FTAPCCI and K Bhaskar Reddy, chairman of agriculture committee of FTAPCCI were the key speakers at the event.