6. India: The Rich-Poor Divide (part 2)

Urban Versus Rural Divide

Around 75% of India’s population lives in rural villages, where infrastructure, services, and employment opportunities are far more limited compared to urban areas. The agricultural sector struggles with low productivity, outdated farming practices, and little bargaining power with buyers, resulting in meager incomes for farmers.

Rural Women Washing Clothes in Pond

Yet, despite these challenges, India stands as a global agricultural leader. It produces the world’s largest quantities of rice, wheat, legume seeds, spices, and milk. A strong current example of How India shaped the world. The dairy industry, in particular, operates in a way that’s vastly different from what I’m familiar with in New Zealand, both on the farm and throughout the supply chain.

Dairy Cattle: A Sacred Status

In India, cows are regarded as sacred, primarily because of the economic and nutritional benefits of milk production. Once a cow’s productive life is over, it isn’t culled; instead, it’s set free to roam wherever it pleases — through cities, villages, and even along major highways. This is a common sight across the country: cows wandering aimlessly, lying in the middle of busy roads, and bringing traffic to a halt as drivers carefully navigate around them.

The reason farmers release these cows is economic — culling them is often cost-prohibitive. In stark contrast, in New Zealand, dairy farmers routinely send unproductive cows to the abattoir to maintain efficiency and economic viability.

The Indian Dairy Industry

India produces approximately 25% of the world’s milk supply, supported by the largest dairy herd globally. However, dairy farming in India contrasts sharply with the highly mechanized systems in New Zealand. Indian farmers typically own only a few cows, which are not kept in fenced paddocks. Instead, grass is cut manually — usually by women — and carried to the cows.

Milk is harvested by hand into metal cans and transported, often without refrigeration, to local depots. From there, it’s consolidated and sent by milk tankers to larger processing facilities, where it’s turned into a variety of consumer products.

This supply chain reminds me of what dairy farming in New Zealand would have looked like back in the 1920s (A time period linking to New Zealand's first settlers) — a stark contrast to the efficiency and technology-driven systems we see in modern New Zealand agriculture.

To be continued in the next post...