Household demand and supply of milk and milk products in India: regional trends and future projections.

摘要

Dairy sector plays a catalytic role in Indian agricultural economy by contributing 68 per cent of total livestock output and 18 per cent of total agricultural output. Further, milk and milk products (MMPs) are the second largest constituents of Indian food budget after cereals. However, there exist wide inter-regional variability in its production and consumption. The paper diagnoses inter-regional variations in production performance and highlights the accessibility and affordability issues in consumption of MMPs. The changes in price and income have significant influence in the consumption of MMPs as revealed by high estimated price and income elasticities. The demand and production projections revealed that domestic demand of MMPs will outstrip the production in future. This necessitates acceleration in milk production through technological and policy breakthrough to balance demand and supply.