Milk and milk products have been a part of society for most of human history, right from the domestication of animals around 10,000-15,000 years ago.

India is a large consumer of milk and dairy products such as ghee, yogurt, paneer and cheese. Indian cuisine has large number of desserts that use milk and milk products. India also prefers milk in their beverages like tea and coffee. India has archeological evidence of a successful dairy least since the Harappan Civilisation (33001300 BCE). Sacred texts like the Vedas, Puranas and the epic all glorify use of milk and dairy products. In the medieval period (10001500 CE), travellers accounts such as the Chinese monk Huan Tsang mention milk and milk products playing a prominent role in the feasts thrown by royalty. In time the popularity and demand of dairy kept on growing. 

During the British colonial rule local unorganised cottage industries developed across towns and villages. The British additionally added to the development of dairy industry. It was in 1970s which denoted the beginning of a government programme that would change the essence of dairy creation in India and our reliance on its Operation Flood or the White Revolution was the formation of an arrangement of dairy creation that included dairy farmers the whole way across the nation.

The government considered dairy industry as a means of both boosting employment opportunity and to improve peoples access to nutrition. The programme saw a spanning of the gap between urban areas that might have higher demand but lower supply, and rural family-owned dairy producers. In the 2000s, plant-based milks began to emerge to cater to a growing vegan movement and the needs of those who could not consume dairy.

In recent years a new concern has been added to the listthe sustainability of the dairy industry. The push to provide dairy to every member of society has placed stress on sections of the chain that have been overlooked in the quest for growth. On the one hand, the lives of the cows that produce milk have declined due to inexperience and lack of knowledge. On the other hand, then again, the low quality of life gave to these animal influences ailment and poor milk production. In any case, by diminishing the measure of dairy we expend, or stopping it totally, we can help the circumstance only a smidgen.

The dairy business in India has been seeing rapid development with liberalisation. As income from crop production is seasonal, dairy industry is an alternative for year round income.  Despite challenges of illiteracy and awareness among farmers, the industry runs a producer-owned and professionally-managed cooperative system displaying substantial growth. The 90s saw a decline in the favourable price for milk producer and after regaining glory after 1992 the prices have seen exponential growth. The nation's milk supply originates large number of small producers, who are scattered throughout the rural areas. 

Usually one or two cattle enable the farmers to generate sufficient income to break the vicious subsistence agricultural-debt cycle. More than 10 million dairy farmers belong to 96,000 local dairy cooperatives, who sell their products to one of 170 milk producers' cooperative unions who in turn are supported by 15 state cooperative milk marketing federations. The Indian dairy industry specialises in the procurement, production, processing, storage and distribution of dairy products. The industry contributes about a very large amount to the Indian economy as well as giving substantial employment opportunities. Less workable land, urbanisation, lack in labour force, and climate change remain challenge to efficiency in dairy production.

Studies say that by 2067, milk consumption will intensify causing pressure on the dairy herds to give out 600 billion kilogram more than their current production. Although keeping the external challenges and growing demand, it is essential to incorporate technology in the dairy production to meet the needs. The implementation of IoT (Internet of Things) will make the production much more efficient and be easy on the farmer. The farmers have always had a challenge determining the right time to milk the cattles, with IoT sensors the farmers can reap much more benefit by milking the cow at the right time.

Using IoT sensors the farmers can also determine the health of each cow independently giving them more care and seeing a growth in the milk production as well. The sensors are placed on cattle's tail, ear, legs, or neck. The sensors give real-time data of several factors such as the cows activities, levels of milk production, health, and eating patterns. These sensors can pinpoint health conditions such as inflammation of the udders (mastitis), temperature and estrus cycle. 

The Internet of Things transforms ordinary cattle to smart cattle. The sensors collect data and store in cloud, while updating and processing the data real-time, saving dairy farmers effort and time.

Another advantage IoT gives is automation for the dairy industry. The manufacturers, need to keep an eye on the quality of the milk to guarantee its aptness for auxiliary processing. Earlier the company had to wait for the lab results before it could process the batch but with technology today there are milk analysers that provide precise values of fat, SNF, water content and concreteness of milk. Such gadgets decrease the time that goes into testing a number of milk samples each day at the milk collection centre. 

Today as the Indian dairy industry encourages a large measure of data accessible through IoT to machine-learning calculation frameworks, the industry starts to opt for smart decision making. The industry can now plan on successful choices by breaking down huge data accessible immediately on the web, purchasers purchasing conduct, and stock buys while moving far from instinctive reasoning. The dairy farming industry needs the advancement provided by IoT if it is going to help sustain the exploding global population.

(The author is culinary historian. He can be contacted at mv2574@gmail.com )