National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) Chairman Dr Meenesh Shah has highlighted the crucial role of dairy and fisheries in making agriculture more sustainable, while stressing the need to bring more farmers into the agriculture and livestock sectors to achieve the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.
Speaking at the 3rd National Agriculture Conference & Awards 2026, Shah said India is the world’s largest milk producer, with annual milk production of around 248 million metric tonnes growing at 5–6%. Around 2.5 crore farmers are directly connected with the cooperative dairy network.
He said cooperatives provide small and marginal farmers access to markets and also play an important role in women’s empowerment.
On sustainability, Shah stressed improving animal productivity to reduce methane emissions. He highlighted initiatives including the National Gokul Mission, sex-sorted semen, embryo transfer and IVF for breed improvement and higher productivity.
He also called for an integrated milk-and-dung value chain, noting that dung can be converted into biogas, compressed biogas and organic fertilisers, creating additional income and energy sources for farmers while reducing emissions.
