Since the end of the 1990s, India has become the world first producer of milk, before the United State, with a production close to 74 million tons in 1998 [92 million in 2004 (13)]. Over the period 1973-1995, the average daily availability of milk per inhabitant increased from 112 g (1973-74) to 194 (1994-95)**. This performance is partially the result of Operation Floods, launched by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in the 1970s. NDDB has been created and managed by Dr Kurien since 1970-71, after the success of the Kheda District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union in Gujarat State where farmers decided to sell milk themselves and bypassed middlemen. Today NDDB counts more than 9.7 millions of producers and 75,000 societies at the village level. NDDB is in charge of collecting and transforming milk, and ensures different services to the farmers (veterinary and social services, feed supply or advice, etc.). This is the achievement of numerous technical and organizational efforts to tap a scattered supply system and make the product accessible to the urban population. These achievements have been obtained on farms that register very low animal performance.
To satisfy Indian consumers’ rising demand for milk products, Indian breeders will have to boost their production rapidly, especially through improved feeding practices. Many experts point out that currently used crop by-products will not be sufficient to meet increasing feed requirements from cow and buffalo herds and that it will be necessary to turn to grains such as wheat and maize. But other experts think that grain will not be enough and that the increasing animal consumption of grain will affect human consumption, unless India decides on massive grain imports, putting pressure on the world grain market. The present survey carried out in two districts of Haryana showed that grain was not an essential feed for cattle and buffaloes, and that improving cotton and mustard by-products, and green fodder had great potential. A second finding was that wealthier farmers tended to underuse the genetic potential of milk cows and buffaloes. Moreover, biotechnical management of the herd, in particular the feeding system, was closely related to the socioeconomic management of the family farming system; family strategies aimed at ensuring sufficient milk production for the family in larger farms and to provide a regular income in smaller ones. This paper also stressed out the need to design, implement, and monitor development programs that integrate sociocultural and, especially, gender issues, to facilitate technological innovation with respect to forage storage.
