Problem
Milk yield per head of cattle remains well below the world average
- National
The Integrated Sample Survey put average annual productivity of cattle at 1,777 kg per animal in 2019-20, against a world average of 2,699 kg in 2019 (FAO), as the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying told Parliament in March 2021. Productivity is rising — the Department reports 27.39 per cent growth in bovine productivity between 2014 and 2022 — and India is the world's largest milk producer, with 239.30 million tonnes in 2023-24. The gap is in yield per animal, not in total output. Evidence confidence: High for 2019-20; a current comparison with the world average is not established here.
This is the most specific entry on this branch of the catalogue. The evidence behind it is below.
Who is responsible
- Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying — Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying · Ministry or DepartmentRuns the Rashtriya Gokul Mission for bovine breeding.
- State Animal Husbandry Departments · State Government
Evidence and sources
- Productivity of Dairy Animals — reply in Parliament · Official statementDepartment of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, 24 March 2021. Integrated Sample Survey: 1,777 kg per animal per year (2019-20) against a world average of 2,699 kg (2019, FAO).
- India's Dairy Sector: Anchoring Nutrition and Income Security — PIB backgrounder · Official statementPress Information Bureau, 29 September 2025. Milk production 239.30 million tonnes in 2023-24; bovine productivity growth of 27.39% between 2014 and 2022.
Alongside this
Green fodder falls about 11 per cent short of requirement
In April 2025 the Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying put the national green fodder deficit at an estimated 11 per cent, noting that only about 8.5 million hectares are under cultivated fodder. The statement does not give the underlying assessment, a dry fodder or concentrate deficit, or a regional breakdown. Evidence confidence: Medium — an official estimate stated publicly without its method.
Livestock diseases keep cutting productivity, and Lumpy Skin Disease was reported in ten states in 2025
Approving a revised Livestock Health and Disease Control Programme in March 2025 (₹3,880 crore for 2024-25 and 2025-26), the Union Cabinet stated that livestock productivity is adversely impacted by foot-and-mouth disease, brucellosis, peste des petits ruminants, classical swine fever and Lumpy Skin Disease. In July 2025 the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying reported Lumpy Skin Disease in ten states that year — Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, Maharashtra and Karnataka — with active cases only in Maharashtra. National figures on animal deaths and economic losses from these diseases are not established here. Evidence confidence: Medium — the burden is officially acknowledged but not quantified in the sources used.
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