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The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) mobilised around Rs 1,500 crore to establish 25 Milk Producer Organisations (MPOs) across the country, with women members contributing nearly Rs 326 crore, a senior official said on Tuesday.
Addressing the CII Women in Agri & Food Leadership Forum, NDDB Dairy Services Managing Director CP Devanand said 18 of the 25 MPOs are fully women-owned, with 23 women serving as chairpersons and 217 women among the 256 directors. "We have 23 women chairpersons and out of the total 256 directors, around 217 are women. Apart from the Rs 1,500 crore that we could mobilize, roughly around Rs 326 crore was the contribution from the women members," he said. He said the organisations were established over the past 12 years with support from Tata Trusts, the National Rural Livestock Mission, State Rural Livestock Missions, JICA and the World Bank. Devanand said women are increasingly taking leadership roles in the dairy sector by owning enterprises, managing organisations and controlling cash flows, marking a significant shift from their traditional role as contributors. He noted that India produces about 25 per cent of the world's milk, with women accounting for nearly 70 per cent of the dairy workforce. NDDB's cooperative network has around 1.72 crore members, of whom 30-35 per cent are women, while nearly 53,000 dairy cooperative societies are managed entirely by women. The MPO model, introduced by NDDB in 2014, was designed to strengthen dairy value chains in areas where cooperative coverage is limited by combining the farmer-centric approach of cooperatives with the flexibility of a company structure. According to Devanand, more than Rs 60,000 crore has been transferred to farmers through the producer organisation network over the past 10-12 years, including around Rs 8,000 crore through direct bank transfers in the last year. He said women dairy farmers currently earn around Rs 13,000-14,000 per month after expenses, while the programme has also facilitated credit mobilisation of about Rs 110 crore. Devanand said NDDB is also promoting women-led enterprises in areas such as handicrafts, food processing and handloom products, and plans to launch a women-owned brand later this year. He added that around 75,000 biogas plants have been installed at farmers' homes to generate additional income and reduce LPG consumption. Looking ahead, he said NDDB aims to raise women's average monthly dairy income to Rs 1 lakh over the next decade by expanding infrastructure, strengthening governance and encouraging greater rural entrepreneurship. (ANI)
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