With dairy sector facing a tough time due to natural calamity this rainy season, the State Government is going to promote mini dairy scheme to meet increasing demand for milk.
Under this mini dairy scheme, people engaged in animal husbandry business may get about 40 per cent financial assistance from the State Government to purchase milch animals. At the same time, keeping in view the present State of the dairy development department, the Dairy Development Minister, Harish Chandra Durgapal, has stressed on the need to encourage farmers for purchasing milch animals under this mini dairy scheme.
Emphasising on the need to form a new wok plan to increase milk production and promote marketing of dairy products, the Dairy Development Minister has also called for creating awareness among people particularly farmers who are engaged in animal husbandry business about the mini dairy scheme.
In order to augment milk production and improve marketing of dairy products, the officials concerned need to set up camps at block and village levels to make the farmers aware about the schemes being launched by the Government and encourage them to make the most of these schemes like the mini dairy scheme, Durgapal has maintained.
At the same time he has also asked the officials concerned to help famers purchase milch animals with 40 per cent financial assistance being given to the farmers under the mini dairy scheme. In the meanwhile, as the officials concerned have said, the dairy development
department of Uttarakhand is also going to take some others steps for development of dairy business like constructing of three cold stores in Uttarkashi, Kotdwar and Nainital soon at a cost of Rs 34.48 lakh and related development works in the said areas.
Besides, it would also spend Rs 8.35 lakh in strengthening basic infrastructure for dairy development at Chamoli and would set up a dairy processing plant at Champawat at a cost of Rs 31.10 lakh, as the officials concerned informed.
At the same time, it will develop fodder banks at Rudrapur, Shyampur, and Kalshi at a cost of Rs 9.58 lakh, they further informed. These are all part of the modernisation plan of the diary development department, Uttarakhand, which is also facing a tough competition from the private sector in the state of late, apart from the natural disaster. More so, the devastating basic infrastructure sector due to natural calamity that the mountain State faced this rainy season has only made things tougher for the dairy development department, Uttarakhand. Hopefully, the aforesaid new measures would help the dairy development department to face the challenges ahead.