Prospect of organic dairy farming in India: A review

Dairy farming has the potential for providing additional income to the farmers along with achieving major goal of organic farming i.e. diversified production and supporting biological cycle within farming system. India presently is the largest producer of milk in world supported by an astonishing growth rate in dairy sector. Apart from this due to increasing consumer awareness there has been an increased concern voiced over quality of milk and milk products including contamination, pollutant and the residual effect of various chemicals. Interest in organic dairy farming is increasing at rapid pace worldwide as an alternative solution. Recent years have seen a sharp rise in demand of organic milk and milk products. Under Indian condition, rapid spread of organic dairy farming is possible because of some key geographical, cultural and economic advantages like traditional nature of farming and indigenous technical knowledge and practices followed by Indian farmers etc. But prevalence of small and marginal dairy farmers also poses many challenges for faster proliferation of organic dairy farming along with some other shortcomings. Present article provide some insight on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of organic dairy farming in the country along with some potential ways to overcome these weaknesses and threats.