National Milk Day: Here's how Verghese Kurien's vision made India the world's largest milk producer

National Milk day is celebrated on 26th November to mark the birth anniversary of Verghese Kurien. Known as the Father of the White Revolution in India, Kurien was born on 26th November 1921 in Calicut, Madras. He was the man behind the White Revolution in India. His "billion-litre idea" was world's largest agricultural dairy development programme in India. 

Kurien's efforts and ideas made dairy farming in India one of the largest self-sustaining industry that not only provides India with employment opportunities but also made the nation prosper and grow using country's diary resources.  

In 2016-17, a record breaking, 164 million tonnes of milk was produced and consumed making it the largest producer of milk across the globe once again. 

DAIRY INDUSTRY IN INDIA

India is also known as the Oyster of the global dairy Industry. India is the largest nation to capitalize on the largest and fastest milk and milk products market. More than 10 million farmers are connected to over 96,000 local dairy cooperatives. The milk industry contributes to the national economy at a a large scale. 

This industry also provides employment to a vast majority of the rural house holds. Employing over 9 million people on an yearly basis, 70% out of which are women. Indian Dairy Industry being the largest producer all over the world with an output of Rs.1180 billion in 2004-05 which is equal to the combined output of paddy and wheat crops. 

The Indian dairy market is witnessing great success globally over a large period of time and Amul is the big daddy of this industry.

VARGHESE KURIEN's EFFORTS 

Varghese Kurien is regarded as a strong proponent of Milk Industry in India. He made the country grow from a milk-deficient nation to the largest producer and consumer of milk in the world.      He took his primary education from the Diamond Jubilee Higher Secondary School and later went to Loyola College in Madras for his graduation in mechanical engineering. He went to Institute of Animal Husbandry in Bangalore (now, National Dairy Research Institute, southern station, Bengaluru) where he spent nine months, and merely bid time out to be sent to America at Michigan State University.

(Kurien, Tribhuvandas & Dalaya at their dairy plant at Anand in 1970)

Verghese Kurien was the co-founder of India's largest food brand named Amul. He introduced, first time in the world, the concept of production of powder milk from the buffalo-milk. The idea was to try convert the surplus milk available to milk powder.

He organised the system and linked the dairy farmers directly to the consumers in the market. This eliminated the cost and effort of the middleman and hence ensured a regular income. Tribhuvandas Patel, co-founder of Amul took help from Kurien to process the milk of farmers brought together and formed a cooperative society to purchase their milk. Tribhuvandas's efforts and the trust placed in him by farmers inspired Kurien to dedicate himself to establishing the dairy cooperative, 'Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union Limited now popularly known as Amul dairy.

(Kurien shows Shastri how his dairy works, in 1964. Impressed, PM asks him to replicate it nationwide)

In 1965, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri tasked Kurien to replicate the dairy's 'Anand pattern' nationwide for which, the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) was founded under Kurien on his conditions, that it be independent of governmental control and tbat it be set up at. He also dealt with donors like UNICEF for his dairy cooperative.

India then became the world's largest milk producer by 1998, surpassing the United States of America, with about 17 percent of global output in 2010–11.