Dairy market in India: opinions differ — will India be an importer or an exporter? In any case, the rules of the game have changed. And to move on, one need to change the business model.

50 experts from the entire chain of the dairy industry gathered in Anand (India) during the fifth regional seminar of the IFCN. The discussion started with global dairy crisis and moved on to thinking about how the dairy industry of India would develop.

The successful development of the dairy industry depends on two main factors. First and foremost it is the entry to the market through well-functioning and stable chain «from producer to consumer». R. S. Sodhi, general director of Amul, sums up: «If you want to develop dairy industry, provide the farmer a stable price and market access».

Secondly, we need a business model for farm production of dairy products that will create the value of the product on the market that a buyer can pay. Torsten Hemme, managing Director IFCN, said: «If in your business model costs are lower than milk prices, it is natural that this will cause a rapid growth of production."

The experts of the dairy industry discussed different strategies for more developed and less developed regions, such as Eastern part of India. In the states like Orissa the increase in milk production can be achieved at the expense of attention to the chain of value creation. An excellent example is Operation Flood.

Operation Flood is a project of the National Department of Dairy Products of India, which was developed in 1970. The project was created for farmers, with the aim of giving them control. Due to this project, India has moved from countries with a shortage of milk to the countries that are large milk producers. Under the conditions of low wages of farmers.

DairyNews with reference to the IFCN.