The incredible growth of India’s dairy industry was a hot topic of discussion for Alltech at the 2016 Australian Dairy Conference, where speakers from around the globe gathered to share encouragement and ideas about the dairy field. Matthew Smith, Alltech vice president of Asia-Pacific, shared his experience working in this and other emerging markets at the conference.

“As a nation, India’s goal is to produce 200 million tonnes [of milk] by 2020,” said Smith. “While 2014 production was only around 147 million tonnes, it is incredible to think that if every milking animal in the country gave an extra half liter per day, the target could be met tomorrow.”

For many years, milk production in India has been dominated by cooperative systems, with thousands of milk collection centers collecting the milk each day. In recent years, however, consolidation and private investment have led to the rapid growth of large dairies that utilize state-of-the-art technology to produce fresh milk.

“It is not uncommon now to see 1,000-cow dairies in the main dairy states of the Punjab, Maharashtra and Gujarat,” said Smith.

This move toward consolidation and the growth of “mega-dairies” prompted Nestlé to open the Dairy Farming Institute (DFI) in Harbin, Northern China. The 600,000-square-meter facility consists of three working dairy farms of different sizes (8,000, 2,700 and 850 cows). Partnering with Nestlé, Alltech participates in numerous educational initiatives and gives assistance in establishing best practices in Chinese agribusiness to develop future farm managers and professionals within the dairy industry.

“Alltech is proud to be Nestlé’s nutrition technology partner, incorporating our In Vitro Fermentation Model (IFM) laboratory into the DFI campus,” said Smith. “Using this proprietary diagnostic tool, we can rapidly evaluate how efficiently a cow will digest a particular ration and make changes to improve feed efficiency, reducing cost and eliminating waste.”

Smith also announced that Alltech will be bringing the IFM technology to Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) this year.

“This technology goes hand-in-hand with the launch of our E-CO2 business to help dairy farmers improve dietary efficiency, reduce the carbon footprint and add more value to every drop of milk,” he said. “These tools will help Australian dairy farmers access the value-added export opportunities that exist today.”

Learn more about the 2016 Australian Dairy Conference and speakers here.