Dairy Industry in its own way..

In many respects the dairy industry occupies a special position among the other sectors of agriculture. Milk is produced everyday and gives a regular income to the numerous small producers. Milk production is highly labour-intensive and provides a lot of employment.
The dairy industry is the sector with the highest degree of protection due to the economically vulnerable position of small milk producers. Milk - also known as white gold - can be used to make an enormous variety of high quality products. The high cost of milk as a raw material has necessitated a high-tech processing industry. The special nature of milk (perishable and bulky) leads to the necessity of strict and comprehensive quality regulation and to high transport costs. The large dependence of milk producers on the dairy processing industry has resulted in a strong position held by the co-operatives in milk marketing and in the processing industry.
The whirlwind of changes, which is passing through the world, is also exercising a growing influence on the dairy industry. The number of milk producers is falling rapidly, the dairy processing industry is becoming more and more highly concentrated, the international dairy markets are increasingly liberalised and are giving greater opportunities to low cost producers, including many from developing countries.