Bring out your milk pails — there’s good news on the dairy front. India, which produces about 100 million tonnes of milk a year, is the largest milk producer in the world. And the government estimates that the production will double by 2020. Not surprisingly, there’s going to be a growing need for dairy technologists. “Currently, our dairy industry is growing by four to five per cent each year. In the years to come, it will grow at a faster pace and no dairy technology student will be without a job. In fact, there is a shortfall now of well-trained manpower,” says A.K. Misra, dean, faculty of dairy technology, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, (WBUAFS), Calcutta.

The industry is growing by leaps and bounds. “In 10 years’ time, everybody will be talking about the dairy industry in the same way as IT,” asserts R.S. Sodhi, chief general manager, Amul, Anand, Gujarat. “We recruit 50-60 students each year through campus interviews to serve in our 13 district co-operative milk producers’ unions. We sometimes even fall short of suitable candidates.”

The Dairy India Yearbook 2007 says India’s dairy sector — worth Rs 2,27,340 crore in 2005 — is set to double by 2011. The demand for milk and for value-added milk products will soar. “This will require a highly efficient network of cold storages and packaging and distribution so that processed milk and milk-based products can reach the vast consumer base in a cost-effective manner,” says Arif A. Broadway, associate professor at Allahabad Agricultural Institute. And this requires the services of dairy technologists.

Other experts agree that the dairy industry is in need of talented professionals. A.K. Chawla, a dairy industry consultant and a former faculty member of the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal, Haryana, says that research institutes and industries in both the public and private sectors need qualified dairy technologists. Adds I.K. Narang, secretary, Indian Dairy Association, Delhi: “If we look at the progress in recent years, especially investments made by foreign companies in manufacturing milk-based products, there is no doubt that the demand for professionals in the dairy technology industry will increase in the years to come.”

The white revolution

M ore jobs are on the anvil, as multinational firms may enter India for its low costs of production. India, Broadway points out, is the cheapest producer per litre of milk in the world at 27 cents, compared with the US’s 63 cents and Japan’s $2.8.

Despite being the largest milk producer in the world, India’s contribution to the world dairy trade is insignificant. Its dairy export share globally is currently less than one per cent.

This, many believe, is due to the lack of research-backed products. India, for instance, has not been successful in producing high quality cheese or cream from buffalo milk, despite its superior health properties. Chawla says that biotechnological applications in dairy product processing, an improvement in the quality of milk and milk products and the development of eco-friendly processing systems are some of the areas that Indian researchers will closely look into in the future.

“There’s a lot that can be done, since this sector is coming out with innovative products,” says Abhijit Pal, a researcher at a milk-based product company in Bangalore. “Also, firms are investing heavily in research areas so that they can develop new products. Evidently, people like me are in great demand,” he says. Dairy technologists will also be in demand in dairy farms, co-operatives and even rural banks.

The pay scale is good enough to attract the best in the field. At Amul, a fresher earns anywhere between Rs 16,000 and Rs 25,000 a month, says Sodhi. Some of the entry-level jobs are as supervisors, production executives, quality control executives and procurement officers. With a few years of experience, they can go on to become managers.

Pal says that the demand for Indians has also increased abroad as our degrees are recognised in most countries. “A few of my classmates left for the West with just a few years of experience here,” he says.

Earlier, dairy technology was taught as part of a veterinary and animal husbandry course. Now it is being offered as a specialised course. Typically, a dairy technology course comprises areas such as dairy engineering, dairy chemistry and dairy bacteriology. NDRI offers BTech, MTech and PhD degrees in dairy technology while agricultural and private institutes have BTech, BSc and postgraduation courses. WBUAFS has BTech, MTech and MSc courses in dairy technology. Some reputed institutes in the country are the Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Dairy Science and Technology, Pusa, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore and Seth M.C. College of Dairy Science, Anand.

Candidates for bachelors courses are selected on the basis of an all-India examination in physics, chemistry and mathematics. However, some universities conduct their own entrance examinations. For admission to the masters programme, students are required to pass the all-India entrance examination conducted by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research. Once you cross the hurdles, rest assured “this will be the milky way to success,” says Misra.