Mohan Yadav Budget Gives a Strategic Push to Dairy Products Market

The Madhya Pradesh government’s third consecutive budget — a historic ₹4.38 lakh crore outlay framed as the state’s first rolling budget — has placed dairy and allied sectors firmly on the development map with targeted schemes and fiscal allocations aimed at strengthening market demand and rural incomes. The budget, presented on 18 February 2026, includes multiple measures with direct implications for the dairy products market and milk value chains.

A flagship initiative, the Yashoda Milk Scheme, has been allocated ₹700 crore in its first year, under which tetrapack milk will be supplied to students up to Class 8 under school nutrition programmes — potentially creating steady institutional demand for packaged milk and reinforcing consumption habits among young consumers. The government has set an ambitious target to reach around 80 lakh schoolchildren with milk supplies, signalling a large guaranteed market for dairy processors and brands in the organised sector.

Beyond direct consumption stimulation, the budget earmarks ₹600 crore for improving cow breeds, a measure that intersects with long-term productivity and quality improvement in milk yield — a key driver of value-added dairy product growth. Such allocations could strengthen the base for enhanced milk solids availability, benefiting processors of ghee, paneer, dahi, and fortified milks across the value chain.

The Madhya Pradesh government has also declared 2026 as the ‘Krishak Kalyan Varsh’ (Farmer Welfare Year) with over ₹1 lakh crore in farmer-centric schemes and a renewed focus on animal husbandry and dairy growth targets under the Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Kamdhenu Yojana, including aims to lift milk production growth from around 9 % to 20 %. These moves signal policy continuity aimed at bolstering rural incomes and expanding milk production capacity.

Complementary budget provisions — such as enhanced allocations for power subsidies, zero-interest loan schemes for farmers, and increases in direct income support programmes — also tend to reduce farm input burdens, thereby helping dairy farmers manage rising feed and veterinary costs. The expansion of the Ladli Behna scheme and indirect support for rural women can further strengthen household dairy engagement, since women play a central role in milk production and quality control at the village level.

Taken together, these budgetary moves suggest that the government sees dairy not just as an agricultural sub-sector but as a lever for rural development, nutrition security and market expansion. By stimulating institutional demand (milk in schools), supporting genetic and productivity enhancements, and aligning with broader farmer welfare frameworks, the budget could help create structural demand pull for dairy products while anchors value chain expansion for processors and brands.

Source : Dairynews7x7 Feb 20th 2026 Read full story here 

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