Milk production in the country has been increasing steadily over the past number of years and has reached 160m tonnes for its 2015 to 2016 season. Prices have also been robust.

But dairy industry experts fear that production may fall by 3m tonnes per year by 2020 due to climate change.

Although India’s milk production has been rising steadily, the impact of rising temperatures and the influence of cross-bred cows may force the industry to concentrate on producing more milk from buffalo.

Some 50% of the country’s milk is currently produced from the buffalo herd.

The average milk yield in India is 5l/day for cows and 3l/day for buffalos.

Dilip Rath, chair of the country’s National Dairy Development Board, said: “The dairy sector is likely to be affected both directly and indirectly by climate change. While stress to animals caused by changes in temperature-humidity index would directly affect milk production, indirect effects include feed and water availability being impacted by adverse climate events.”

India is self-sufficient in milk, which is the country’s largest commodity in value terms, surpassing even the combined value of the two principal cereal crops. It has helped millions of rural households to survive, according to Rath. He said: “We need to proactively protect our milk producers from the adverse consequences of climate changes.”

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