Indian dairy a la French farming cooperatives

New Delhi, Nov 23 (UNI) Move over Amul, French farming cooperative movement is coming to India.

Mr Nicolas Forissier, inter-ministerial delegate for the food processing and agribusiness industries, is on a visit to India to promote the farming cooperative model that spurred the development of dairy farming in France some hundreds of years ago.

''France being the world's first exporter and leader of farm produce can help India in launching the Second Green Revolution,'' Mr Forissier told UNI last evening.

''I have held talks with India's Food Processing Minister Subodh Kant Sahay, and he has stressed the need to cooperate in the food processing area,'' the French delegate said.

According to French Ambassador Dominique Girard, the more than three-century old farming cooperative movement, which witnessed real growth from 19th century onwards in France, can be a good socio-cooperative model for India to emulate.

The movement, which made France into a world leader in milk products, especially cheese, sparked off similar revolutions in watch industry and later in the IT sector in the country.

''From cheese model, grew other models,'' he said, and added that India could learn a lot from the French farmers and cooperatives.

''India need not copy a model, but can draw lessons from other people's history,'' he pointed out.

According to Mr Forissier, India is one of the 5-6 countries with great gastronomical culture, with France well-known in it.

''This is ample reason to work together,'' he said.

As part of his government's initiative, Mr Forissier is supporting French small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to set up shops here or have collaborations with Indian companies in dairy and meat products, wine and other agribusineses.

He will be visiting India quite often, and will also be here in the first week of December to participate in the Indo-French Business Meet.

''About 200 French SMEs will participate in this Meet. Of these, 40 will be in agribusiness, with focus on dairy farming. I will be coming with ten companies dealing with meat products,'' he said.

The French delegate said the food processing industry was not much developed in India despite a rise in average household income, emergence of consumers having the same purchasing power as Europeans, and the evolution of food consumption patterns.

''The French SMEs specialising in food processing should take advantage of the situation and invest more and more in India,' he said.

''It will be a win-win situation for both,'' he added.

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