Production and Consumption senario of cows milk in terai and hilly region of Uttaranchal

India is the largest milk producing country in the world with the current production of nearly 88.7 million tonnes of milk annually (Kadirvel 2002). Six villages on the outskirts of the township block of Rudrapur in Udham Singh Nagar district in the Terai and another six villages in the Bhimtal block of the Nainital district in the Hills were selected purposely. In the selection process, it was ensured that these villages had dairy farms and the township was easily accessible to the dairy farms, a condition that would increase the chances of these dairy farms to be linked with the market It was also experienced that majority of the adult people consumed milk through tea. Considerably large quantities of milk to be used in tea (use of coffee in rural areas, unlike in the cities, is extremely rare) indicated the importance of this beverage in mountain and plain society.