Non-bovine Dairy Revolution: Emerging Contributions to the Indian Milk Economy

Abstract

India’s milk economy is often narrated through the lens of cattle, yet much of its dynamism—and a growing share of its product innovation—sits outside the bovine (cow) frame. This review synthesizes evidence on the expanding role of non-bovine milks and dairy products in India, focusing on buffalo, goats, camels, yaks, and emerging niche species (e.g., donkey), and on how these sectors interact with livelihoods, markets, processing technologies, and sustainability goals. We argue that India’s “non-bovine dairy revolution” is not a single transition but a portfolio of pathways: (i) buffalo dairying as the scale backbone supporting fat-rich traditional products and industrial ingredient streams; (ii) goat dairying as a smallholder- and enterprise-friendly diversification with strong nutrition and premium-market narratives; (iii) camel dairying as an arid-land resilience option constrained by processing challenges yet supported by a fast-developing functional-food discourse; and (iv) high-altitude (yak) and niche milks as geographically anchored micro-economies with high value-per-litre potential. Across species, compositional differences influence digestibility, product yield, and technological suitability, while governance and value-chain modernization shape safety, traceability, and farmer returns. The review highlights actionable priorities: species-sensitive quality standards, cold-chain and aggregation models tailored to dispersed production, validated health-claim pathways, and climate-resilient breeding and feeding strategies. Collectively, non-bovine dairying can strengthen India’s milk economy by widening income options, supporting region-specific dairy clusters, and enabling differentiated products—provided investment, evidence, and regulation advance together.