India's Trade Practices in Livestock Sector Under WTO Regime: Future Prospects and Policy Options

摘要

Despite constraints like rearing of livestock under sub-optimal conditions due to low economic status of livestock owners, India has now become the largest producer of milk in the world. The development of the Indian dairy sector is an unprecedented success story as it is based on millions of small producers. The Indian Government is making concerted efforts to raise the per capita availability of milk through the increase in productivity of milch animals. In order to achieve this ambitious goal, assistance is being provided to the State Governments for controlling animal diseases, scientific management, upgrade of genetic resources, increasing availability of nutritious feeds and fodder, etc. In the present milieu, when production of dairy productsto match international standards has become necessary to compete in the international markets of milk and milk products, steps need to be initiated to improve quality of Indian milk products with a view to boost export trade of these products in free trade regime; earning valuable foreign exchange as well as providing clean and quality milk to the domestic population for their better health.