Shri Dilip Rath, Chairman, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has been unanimously elected to the Board of International Dairy Federation (IDF) on 2nd November 2020 during the General Assembly of IDF. Shri Rath said, “I see my election to the IDF Board as an opportunity to bring along valuable insights from the Indian dairy experience and foster complementarities and synergies between dairying nations. It is a privilege for me to represent the world’s largest milk producing nation and contribute to promoting the Sustainable Goals of dairying and also meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals. I keenly look forward to furthering IDF Board’s mandate.”

Shri Dilip Rath is associated with IDF for the last 10 years as Member Secretary of the Indian National Committee and as a member of the Standing Committee on Dairy Policy and Economics. He has participated in National Committee Secretaries’ meetings as well as General Assembly on numerous occasions. Shri Rath was also a distinguished speaker in the Leaders’ Forum Panel at Rotterdam Summit in 2016. He played a key role in signing the Dairy Declaration at the IDF World Dairy Summit in Rotterdam in October 2016 between IDF and FAO. The Declaration recognizes the contribution of the dairy sector to the achievement of key Sustainable Development Goals such as ending poverty and hunger and protecting the environment. The IDF Indian National Committee represented by Secretary, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India, and Chairman, NDDB signed the Indian Dairy Sector’s endorsement to meet UN Sustainable Development Goals with President and Director General of International Dairy Federation at IDF’s World Dairy Summit at Istanbul in 2019.

Shri Rath as Secretary of the Indian National Committee took the initiative to host the World Dairy Summit in India in 2022. India will host the first post-COVID -19IDF World Dairy Summit 2022 in which over 1000 participants including experts, academicians, dairy professionals are expected to participate from about 55 countries. Hosting the World Dairy Summit in New Delhi, India will be a proud moment and a befitting tribute to the dairy farmers. The summit provides a global forum for dairy leaders and experts to exchange knowledge and ideas on how the sector can contribute to nourishing the world with safe and sustainable dairying.

Shri Rath said that the cooperative approach in India is not a matter of choice but it constitutes an essential strategy by which millions of small dairy farmers are being empowered to have a level playing field in the market and get a fair share of the value of milk. Dairying in India has proven to be the growth engine for the farm sector as a whole. It is not only about providing nutrition to billions of consumers but is also about ensuring a sustainable livelihood for millions of our milk producers. India ranks first among the world’s milk-producing nations and has the largest bovine population in the World. The milk production in the country has been growing at the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.43 % as against the global CAGR of 1.53 % for the last 5 years.  The impressive growth and self-sufficiency in the dairy sector have been made possible by the concerted efforts of the dairy farmers, the Government of India, NDDB, and many other stakeholders. In this context, the selection of Shri Rath is considered to be a matter of pride for India.

The global dairy sector is poised to play an important role in meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goal aimed at eliminating hunger by 2030. Among others, it shall continue to focus on the important element of the promotion of sustainable agriculture and supporting marginal and small farmers. In doing so, women’s empowerment leading to their increased participation in leadership and decision making in dairy cooperatives and producer’s association needs to be promoted.

IDF is an international non-governmental, non-profit association with a vision of “Helping to nourish the world with safe and sustainable dairy”. IDF members are National Committees generally constituted by dairy organizations in each country. The National Committee represents its country. India is represented by the National Committee (INC) of the IDF. The Secretary (ADF), Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India is the President of the INC-IDF, and NDDB, as its Secretariat, coordinates its activities.