In a rare honour for India, Chairman NDDB invited to address at the prestigious at the IDF World Dairy Summit in Netherlands
Bangalore, 25 October 2016: In a rare honour for India, Chairman of National dairy development Board (NDDB), Shri Dilip Rath, was invited to address the global dairy community at the prestigious at the IDF World Dairy Summit in Rotterdam, the Netherlands held last week. Shri Rath suggested that the way forward for India’s dairy sector includes focus on productivity, livelihoods and sustainability.
The summit ended with the Declaration of Rotterdam which is a comprehensive statement on how the dairy sector is going to respond to the various challenges as set by the SDGs of the United Nations.
Speaking in this historic occasion, Shri Rath said that three factors contributed to this phenomenal growth of dairying in India. First, is the creation of a robust and sustainable farmer owned and controlled institutions, which gave market access to small holders and made the small holder system a viable business model. Second, adoption of a pragmatic breeding policy which promoted cross breeding of our native breeds with high yielding foreign breeds, retaining valuable climate resilient traits of heat tolerance and disease resistance while resulting in higher yields. Third, efficient use of a by-products and crop residue based balanced feeding system without reducing the availability of food grains for humans.
While addressing the delegates, Shri Dilip Rath, Chairman, NDDB highlighted the major challenges for the dairy sector and ways to help nourish a growing population in a sustainable way.
The Summit with the theme “Dare to Dairy” kicked off with the key question: how will dairy sustainably contribute to feeding 9 billion people in 2050?Delegates from all over the world met to get familiar with the latest research findings and experiences relevant to the global dairy sector. There were about 30 participants from India including Secretary & Joint Secretary, DADF; MD, GCMMF; MD, Amul; Vice Chairman, GCMMF; Chairman, Ajmer Milk Union and cooperative leaders from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim.
Shri Dilip Rath informed that all these three factors made India’s milk production system socially, economically and environmentally sustainable and an annual growth rate of 4 % was maintained for the last 15 years. To meet the growing demand for milk, the next phase of growth will be more challenging. Intensified efforts are required to ensure that we continue to grow at a faster rate and thereby contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
THE DAIRY DECLARATION OF ROTTERDAM
The dairy community accepts sustainability challenge
We, representatives of the one billion person global dairy community, gathered in Rotterdam at the World Dairy Summit, are committed to the sustainable development of the dairy sector to generate widespread benefits for people and the planet.
We recognize:
•the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as the overarching framework that guides our actions towards sustainable development from a social, environmental, economic and health perspective;
•the vital role of dairy for food security and poverty reduction and the important livelihood and development opportunities for family farmers, small holders and pastoralists;
•the critical contribution the dairy sector makes to Sustainable Development, including:
◦The essential role of dairy products for balanced, nutritious and healthy diets;
◦The major contribution that dairy makes to countries’ economies, income, employment and livelihood.
◦The key function of the dairy sector in the management of terrestrial ecosystems and the need to address environmental degradation and climate change, and to support biodiversity;
•The diversity of dairy production systems and dairy breeds, contexts and priorities;
•The need for continuous and open dialogue and joint actions at all levels.
We agree to:
•Take an integrated approach to promote the sustainability of dairy systems, jointly taking into consideration social, economic, health and environmental dimensions;
•Give particular attention to the needs of family farmers, small holders and pastoralists;
•Build, implement and disseminate tools and guidelines to facilitate the identification and adoption of sustainable practices in the dairy sector;
•Build capacity in support of sustainable practices and provide enabling conditions;
•Measure and report on sustainability outcomes.
•Strengthen multi-stakeholder dialogue for consensus building, reviewing progress and continuous improvement.