India with the total milk production of 109 million tones is the world's highest milk-producing country for the past one decade now and accounted for about 15% of the world milk production in 2009. The importance of dairy enterprise in the national economy can be gauged from the fact that the value of output from milk group is highest among all the agricultural commodities, accounting for nearly one fourth of the value of output from agricultural sector. Dairying is one of the most important means of providing livelihood and nutritional security to the rural masses. The livestock activities, among which dairy farming predominates, employ about 8.5 million workers in the country. Milk and milk products account for 9.2 and 12.4 percent of protein intake in rural and urban areas, respectively, which is higher than the protein intake through non-vegetarian animal products. The performance of the Indian dairy sector has been quite impressive. Milk production in India increased from 17 million tonnes in 1950-51 to over 109 million tonnes by 2008-09. During the past one and half decades (1990-2006), milk production has grown at a rate of nearly 4% per annum vis a vis world growth rate of 1.5 percent. The exports of dairy products increased from Rs. 13.98 million in 1990-91 to Rs.6766.82 million in 2005-06, while imports increased from Rs.40.52 million to 345.66 million during the same period. Hence, as the net trade balance of dairy products has changed from negative to positive and the country is now a net exporter of dairy products.
Keywords: KMF, Nandini, DMU, Services, Perception, Preference, Satisfaction, Arokya, Aditya.
