National Dairy Development Board

The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) is an eminent institution in India that functions in the domain of dairy development. It is an organization that is often featured in the news and hence, it is important to know the basic facts related to NDDB. It comes under the segments of economy, agriculture and rural development in the UPSC syllabus.

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What is the National Dairy Development Board?

The NDDB is an institute of national importance established by an act of the Indian Parliament in 1965. It is hence a statutory body.

• It was founded by Dr Verghese Kurien, often called ‘India’s milkman’. Know more about Dr Kurien in This Day in History dated September 9.
• It was set up largely due to the wishes of the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri’s vision to replicate the success of Amul to the whole of India.
• With headquarters in Anand, Gujarat, NDDB was created to boost, finance and support producer-owned and controlled organisations in the dairy industry.
• Its activities and programmes are aimed at augmenting farmer-owned institutions and it also supports national policies that are inclined towards the growth of such organisations.
• Cooperative principles and strategies are fundamental to the Board’s efforts. 
• NDDB’s efforts transformed India’s rural economy by making dairying a viable and profitable economic activity for millions of milk producers while addressing the country’s need for self-sufficiency in milk production.
• The NDDB reaches out to dairy farmers and offers them other income-generating activities as well enabling them to develop sustainable livelihoods.
• NDDB has been successful in combining the traditional wisdom and knowledge of the dairy farmers with modern management practices to capture the milk and milk products market while at the same time, supporting farmers.
• Its major success is Operation Flood, which ran from 1970 to 1996 (26 years) and transformed India into the largest producer of milk in the world. This is also called the White Revolution.
  • This operation was started with the objective of increasing milk production, augmenting farmers’ incomes and providing fair prices for consumers.
• The Board has integrated more than 1 lakh dairy cooperatives in the ‘Anand Pattern’.
  • Under this, the village-level society is linked to the state dairy federation in a three-tier structure.

NDDB Latest News

NDDB’s wholly-owned subsidiary, NDDB Dairy Services, announced in November 2020 that it has developed an indigenous technology for sex sorting bovine sperms which would ensure birth of only female calves. The economic utility of a male calf is negligible whereas ensuring the birth of only female calves can greatly enhance the financial benefits to dairy farmers. Till now, this technology was available only with a few multinational companies. The technology will aid in lowering the cost of artificial insemination using sex sorted semen from the existing ₹1,000/-. It can also help in reducing the problem of stray cattle.

NDDB Subsidiaries

NDDB’s subsidiaries include Mother Dairy, Indian Immunologicals Ltd., Hyderabad (IIL), Indian Dairy Machinery Company Ltd, Anand (IDMC) and NDDB Dairy Services.

National Dairy Development Board Facts

Type of Body: Statutory Body

National Dairy Development Board located at: Anand, Gujarat (HQ)

National Dairy Development Board Chairman: Varsha Joshi (as on 31 March 2021)

National Dairy Development Board under which Ministry: Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries

National Dairy Plan

The NDDB implements the National Dairy Plan (NDP) which is a central sector scheme with the following objectives:

1. To help increase productivity of milch animals and thereby increase milk production to meet the rapidly growing demand for milk
2. To help provide rural milk producers with greater access to the organised milk-processing sector

NDP Phase I was operationalised from 2011-12 to 2018-19. The NDP was largely financed with a loan from the International Development Association of the World Bank with implementing agencies appointed in States by NDDB. The goal of the NDP-1 was to improve breed with production of high-genetic bulls and enhance the reach of the co-operative structure. 

NDP Phase II was launched with an outlay of Rs.8000 crore and it will be implemented from 2020 to 2025. The project targets are to enhance milk processing capacity and infrastructure of dairy cooperatives.