Gujarat’s cooperative model keeps India at the top of global dairy production: Video

Footage filmed at a dairy in Rajkot on Friday shows the full production chain, from milking to processing and packaging, highlighting the state’s continued reliance on cooperative structures that connect farmers directly to consumers.

Workers at the Gokripa Dairy emphasise that Gujarat’s leadership in milk production is rooted in both history and the cooperative system that strengthened rural participation. “Gujarat has traditionally always been a very high milk-producing state. During Vedic times, this region… was said to be the land of milk and honey. The best milk breeds of India were developed in Gujarat, the Gir and the Kankrej,” said Dharbhashree Satyajit. “With the coming in of the co-operatives, and the farmers getting more interested, milk production… has increased, and today, Gujarat is the number one milk-producing state of India.”

According to Satyajit, the facility produces around 700 litres of milk daily from more than 250 well-bred cattle. He added that the quality of the milk reflects the state’s free-grazing tradition: “The Gir cow milk… is so sweet, because our cows are free grazing in our grasslands… the milk they produce is really like nectar.”

Local workers note that the cooperative model has enabled villages to expand production, make better use of natural resources such as grasslands and water, and maintain ownership of the value chain from procurement to processing. This structure helped encourage families to stay in rural areas and scale up livestock rearing. Today, Gujarat produces about 20 million tonnes of milk a year, while India accounts for roughly a quarter of global output, keeping the country firmly at the forefront of the global dairy industry.