With milk production in Uttar Pradesh increasing at an average rate of nine lakh metric tonnes annually, Uttar Pradesh is now tops in the whole country.

According to a government spokesman, milk production has gone up from 277.697 lakh metric tonnes in 2016-17 to 318.630 lakh metric tonnes in 2019-20 in UP.

In the last four years, 1,242.37 lakh metric tonnes of milk have been produced in the state.

Six big companies, including Amul, have set up their dairy plants at the cost of Rs 172 crore in UP in the last four years while work is underway to establish seven others.

Besides, 15 investors have offered to set up their units.

The investments being made in the dairy sector have also created massive employment opportunities in the rural areas of the state. The number of villagers doing milk business by rearing cows and buffaloes is increasing consistently.

According to official statistics, Uttar Pradesh is the largest milk-producing state in the country, accounting for more than 17 percent of the total milk production in India.

In order to promote milk production in the state, the government started protecting milch animals and setting up greenfield dairies.

Greenfield dairies are being set up in Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Meerut, Bareilly, Kannauj, Gorakhpur, Firozabad, Ayodhya, and Moradabad districts of UP while four old dairies at Jhansi, Noida, Aligarh, and Prayagraj are being upgraded, said the officials.

Furthermore, the Yogi Adityanath government sanctioned Rs 272 crore for the establishment of cow protection centres in all the districts of the state. Elaborate arrangements have been made for the protection and maintenance of destitute and abandoned bovine.

These efforts of the government have resulted in increasing interest among investors in the dairy industry of UP, many of whom have already set up their plants whereas several others are working on it.

Several dairy plants have sprung up in UP in the recent past, including Purvanchal Agrico, Shrestha Food, Desi Dairy, New Amit Food, Creamy Food, and CP Milk Food that have set up plants in Ghazipur, Bijnor, Meerut, Gonda, Bulandshahr, and Lucknow respectively.

The UP Government is constructing cow protection centres and a ‘Govansh Vanya Vihar’ to enhance milk production in the state further. The construction of 118 such centres has already been completed.

Apart from this, more than 66,000 cows have been handed over to willing cattle owners under the Chief Minister’s Destitute Govansh Sahayog Yojana.

The state government has also launched Gokul Award and Nandbaba Award. The awards are given to the highest producer of milk from indigenous cows.

The Government is giving credit cards to more than 12 lakh registered dairy farmers in the rural areas, which has led to a significant increase in the number of livestock in the state.

According to the 20th animal census conducted by the government, there are 202.04 lakh bovine animals in UP.