Livestock was reared mostly in rural areas while milk and milk products were consumed both in rural and urban areas. Because the marketable surplus of milk available with individual farmers was too small to justify a trip to the nearest town, it was sold to middlemen who often exploited the farmers by charging an amount in excess of the cost of their services, reducing farmers’ returns on the one hand and charging higher prices to the consumers on the other. The Plan document noted that some milk production also took place in ‘congested and insanitary pockets by gujar.
