‘Milk Fortification’ & ‘Breed Selection’ are Key to Improve Milk Quality: Dr. Amrish Tyagi

National Milk Day has been observed every year (since 2014) on November 26^th, the birth anniversary of Dr. Verghese Kurien, dubbed as "The Father of the White Revolution," and this year marks his 100th Anniversary. To commemorate this, Krishi Jagran organizes a live session on “Contributions of Dr. Verghese Kurein to Dairy Sector” today at 11 a.m (IST).

The main purpose of this webinar is to raise awareness of Dr. Verghese Kurien's accomplishments as the "Father of the White Revolution" and as the"Architect of Modern Dairy Industry”.  The entire session was moderated by MC Dominic, Founder & Editor-in-Chief of Krishi Jagran & Agriculture World.

Views of Dr. Amrish Tyagi

• Dr. Amrish Tyagi, Assistant Director-General, ICAR- Animal Nutrition & Physiotherapy, New Delhi also participated in this webinar & shared his views along with various other speakers.

• He started his speech by greeting Krishi Jagran Team and said, “We’ve achieved the quantity of milk production but lacks in quality”. He suggested ‘Milk Fortification’ & ‘Breed Selection’ to improve the quality of milk.

• He also highlighted that fatty acids and amino acids (present in milk) could be very useful for health because of their anti-cancerous & anti-diabetic properties.  He suggested that rates of milk should be given to farmers on the basis of the quality of milk (i.e., presence of nutrients in that milk), instead of quantity.

• Moreover, Dr. Tyagi also suggested that Camel & Goat Milk should be diverted from direct consumption to cosmetic and pharmaceutical sectors to increase the cost of milk and thereby the

Brief Biographical Sketch of Dr. Amrish Kumar Tyagi

• Dr. Amrish Tyagi joined the Agricultural Research Service of ICAR in 1991 and currently serving at ICAR headquarters as Assistant Director General (Animal Nutrition and Physiology).

• Previously, Dr. Tyagi was working as Principal Scientist and Head, Animal Nutrition Division, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal from 2015-2020 and leading research and teaching in the field of ruminant nutrition at the Rumen Biotechnology Laboratory for designing milk and milk products through feeding strategies in ruminants.

• He has research and teaching experience of over 28 years and is a member of various committees including IDF, FSSAI, DBT task force, and BIS, etc. Research expertise linked to fatty acid biohydrogenation in the rumen, its manipulation, and effects of biohydrogenation intermediates and dietary fatty acids on animal-derived food production and human health. In this aspect, he has handled many national and international research projects as principal investigator (Indo-UK, Indo-USA, and Indo-Ireland).

Dr. Tyagi remains the recipient of several awards, most prominent ones, as VASVIK Research Award, CLFMA Achievement Award, Shri A Laxman Rao Award, Mohammed Ismail Siddiqui Award, Fellowship of NAAS, ANA, ANSI, and NADSI, etc. He is the President of the Animal Nutrition Society of India and a member of the editorial board of the Indian Journal of Animal Nutrition and Indian Dairyman.