White Revolution

White Revolution In ’s, India was not just struggling to achieve self-sustenance in agriculture production, but also in producing milk products such as dairy milk, butter and infant feeds. India has been importing butter, milk power and infant milk feeds. Very similar to revolution in agriculture the need was felt in animal husbandry to produce milk products. Major Reasons for the White Revolution Rearing cows and buffaloes was considered secondary to agriculture. It was non-profit mode of small scale industry because of its primitiveness and poor maintenance of farms and animal sheds. The milk producing animals such as cows and buffaloes were native Indian origin which did not produce enough milk to supply bigger population. Farming in India was a rural industry which was suffering from necessary supporting systems like transportation, preservation and distribution of milk and other dairy products. Farming also suffered from the usage of age old primitive technology and inadequate of veterinary specialists. Mortality rate of cows and buffaloes was very high due to communicable diseases which forced the milk vendors to show a very poor interest to continue the business in a large scale. A rural development programme was started by India’s National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in . This national grid aimed to augment the milk production and distribute across all parts of the nation so as to prevent shortage of milk products. Tamil Nadu Co-operative Milk Producers’ Federation (TCMPF) The Tamil Nadu Dairy Development Corporation Limited was formed in to manage the activities such as milk procurement, processing and marketing of the milk and milk products. Based on Dr.Kurien pattern, Tamil Nadu Co- operative Milk Producers’ Federation (TCMPF) was formed in . The per capita availability of milk in Tamil Nadu has increased from gm/day in - to gm/day in - . The Government of India adopted the method and process followed by Gujarat’s AMUL (Anand Milk Union Limited) founded by Verghese Kurien. AMUL had a humble beginning in ’s in Gujarat with less then farms. Milk was collected from these farms and it was supplied to the consumers in Mumbai(then called Bombay). As it was found very profitable among the farming community it was extended to more numbers in Gujarat. In ’s AMUL became a very well established dairy society in India. In , Prime Minister Lalbahudar Sastri inaguraged Operation Flood with NDDB headed by Mr. Verghese Kurien. Verghese Kurien became the architect of the programme and gave professional help in bringing this White Revolution in ’s. “In our butter imports were tons per year; today our cooperatives alone produce more than , tons of butter. Similarly, we imported tons of baby food in ; today our cooperatives alone produce , tons of baby food. By all imports of milk and milk products stopped. The import permitted was that of food aid under Operation Flood.” -Verghese Kurien. Major Objectives of the Operation Flood: . To increase milk production (“a flood of milk”) . To increase rural incomes of dairy sheds. . To provide fair prices for consumers . To reduce the import burden on the national exchequer. . To establish a National Milk Grid. . To meet nutrients needs. The White Revolution or Operation Flood programme was implemented in