To provide supplementary income support to dairy farmers, The State Government has entered into an agreement with the JK Trust for a “cattle breeding and small ruminant improvement project” to be implemented in 13 districts.
The pact was signed with RK Trust in presence of Minister Pradeep Maharathy on Tuesday. The project would be implemented this year with a financial support of Rs 12.85 crore under Rashtriya Krushi Vikash Yojana.
The project will cover about 4,500 villages in Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Ganjam, Nuapada, Bargarh, Sundargarh, Baleswar, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Boudh. A total of 510 integrated livestock development (IlD) centres would be established in as many gram panchayats. Each IlD would have a rural youth to be engaged as ‘Gopal’ to oversee the activities of the project that aims to produce 25,000 cross bred and upgraded female calves of high genetic merit.
Maharathy said the project would boost the dairy farmers’ income and help reduce the vulnerability of farmers against crop failure.
Fisheries and Animal Resource Development Secretary Bishnupada Sethi said the project would complement efforts of the department to upgrade the genetic potential of the bovine population as envisioned in the Odisha Bovine Breeding Policy-2015. JK Trust’s senor State project manager Arun Uppadhyaya was present.