Asia’s dairy and meat industries are under growing pressure from heat stress, disease, and methane constraints. Extreme heat alone can reduce milk yields by about 10 percent, with every hour above a 26 °C wet-bulb temperature adding roughly 0.5 percent loss, and effects lasting up to 10 days. South Asia is especially exposed. In India’s northern plains, milk losses are projected at around 361,000 tonnes per year by 2039 without adaptation, and even short heat spikes can cut first-lactation yields by 10 to 30 percent.
Feed remains the single largest cost driver, typically accounting for 60 to 70 percent of milk production costs, which makes precision feeding and efficiency-enhancing additives critical to margins. Commercial feed additives such as 3-NOP (Bovaer®) have consistently reduced methane emissions by about 30 percent in dairy systems. Pairing these with mastitis control and vaccination programs, precision feeding, and cooling systems improves both emission intensity and profitability.
Priority markets include India, as the world’s largest dairy producer with strong antimicrobial resistance (AMR) policy signals and rising interest in climate-smart dairying, as well as Thailand and Vietnam, where integrators and retailers are pushing for supply chain sustainability targets.
