The country’s economic development can also be given incomparable speed through cow rearing.

According to Sanatan culture, cow has been given the status of mother in India. Mother takes care of her children, a similar name has been given to mother cow because in ancient times, many families in the rural areas of India were brought up with the help of mother cow. In today’s time, some countries like New Zealand, Denmark and Switzerland have transformed their economies into developed category economies by exporting large quantities of various dairy products made from cow’s milk to the entire world.

New Zealand is a country situated in a corner of the world, whose total population is only 52 lakhs. Every citizen of this country is 25 times richer than the citizen of India. This is an isolated country, yet they have something that makes them such a rich and developed country and that thing is mother cow’s milk. New Zealand has today joined the ranks of developed countries by supplying milk products to various countries internationally. New Zealand’s economy is run not only by humans but also by the mother cow. There are more cows than humans in New Zealand. The total population of cows in New Zealand is more than 61 lakh.

Today, India has reached the first place in the world in terms of population and New Zealand is 12 times smaller than India in size and 260 times smaller in terms of population. But, India exports only 597,000 tonnes of dairy products and New Zealand exports 18,772,000 tonnes of dairy products. The export of dairy products drives the economy of New Zealand, makes the citizens of this country rich and takes the country to a developed state. There is a biggest company in New Zealand called Fonterra and this company is a company formed by farmers in the field of cooperative. The way Amul company has been developed in India. New Zealand’s Fonterra company exports 30 percent of the world’s dairy products. The products of this company are sold in 140 countries of the world and this company provides direct employment to 10,000 citizens.

Today India has become the largest milk producing nation in the entire world. But, India still lags far behind in exporting products made from milk products. 20.90 crore tonnes of milk is being produced every year in India. 102.7 million tons of milk is being produced in America, 41.2 million tons in China, 36.6 million tons in Brazil, 33.2 million tons in Germany, 32.3 million tons in Russia, 25.8 million tons in France and 21.9 million tons in New Zealand. There are more than 100 crore livestock in the whole world and there are 308 million livestock in India, 232 million in Brazil, 102 million in China and 89 million in America. The capacity to extract milk from livestock in India is very low whereas in other developed countries the productivity in this sector is comparatively very high due to the adoption of new technology.

Dairy products account for 23 percent of New Zealand’s total exports. Similarly, Denmark’s economy is also dependent on dairy products. Dairy products account for 20 percent of agricultural exports in Denmark. Butter, cheese and other dairy products from Denmark are exported in large quantities to 150 countries. Even in Switzerland, the share of dairy industry in the total agricultural product is 20 percent.

It is generally said that countries which are agricultural based are less developed than other countries which are more dependent on industry and service sector. But, the citizens of countries like New Zealand, Denmark and Switzerland have made their country a developed country by maintaining their dependence on the agricultural sector and on the basis of maximum dairy products. The contribution of agricultural sector in the economy of New Zealand is only 7 percent, but out of the first 10 products exported from New Zealand, 6 products come from the agricultural sector, among these the export of dairy products is the highest. 60 percent of total exports come from agriculture sector including dairy products. Along with the citizens of New Zealand, Mother Cow also has a huge contribution in boosting the economy of New Zealand, Denmark and Switzerland.

Merely having more number of cows does not boost the economy. It is also necessary to keep these cows healthy. This is possible only when farmers are encouraged to rear cows. There was not a single cow in New Zealand until 200 years ago. But, fodder was available in abundance in New Zealand. Since New Zealand had also become a British colony, seeing the abundance of fodder in New Zealand, cows were brought from Britain and settled here. Since then New Zealand never looked back. With time, the number of livestock including cows increased at a rapid pace. By the year 1900, after the invention of the refrigerator, New Zealand started manufacturing dairy products, although before this the country was more dependent on agricultural products, these agricultural products were sold to European countries. During the First World War, British soldiers were in great need of dairy products and Britain promoted the production of dairy products in New Zealand, after which the dairy products here started being sold almost all over the world. Even during the Second World War, New Zealand exported large quantities of dairy products to Britain. At that time, with the cooperation of Britain, the share of dairy products and sheep in the total products exported from New Zealand had reached 90 percent. Britain was a reliable largest market for dairy products manufactured in New Zealand, where New Zealand products also got good market prices because Britain was in dire need of food at that time.

In the year 1955, the market price of New Zealand dairy products in Britain started decreasing. After this, New Zealand farmers started looking for new markets to sell their dairy products. But after this, the economic situation of New Zealand also started wavering. But, by the year 1984, economic reform programs were implemented in New Zealand. Income tax rates for citizens were almost halved, from 66 percent to 33 percent. The 4 percent subsidy provided to various products in the agricultural sector was also abolished so that the farmers could stand on their feet and the economic condition of the country could be improved.

New Zealand’s farmers accepted the challenge of removing subsidies provided on agricultural products and succeeded in reviving New Zealand’s dairy industry and wool industry through their hard work and due to government policies. Following the economic reform programs introduced in 1983, meat and dairy products began to receive more attention on quality rather than quantity. New Zealand’s products were made competitive in the international market and New Zealand once again became the leader in exporting dairy products around the world. Indian farmers should also learn from the success achieved by New Zealand farmers in this regard.

Today the whole world is understanding the glory of the milk of Indian cow. Cow breeding and construction of cow sheds is also being done in India. But, there is a complete lack of respect for mother cow. In India, once again giving a high place to mother cow, new technology will be used to deliver cow milk products to the whole world so that India’s economic development can get more momentum and maximum employment opportunities can be created in the rural areas of India. Can be created.

-Prahlad Sabnani

Retired Deputy General Manager

state Bank of India