PATHANAMTHITTA:
Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development J Chinchurani today said talks are on with the Centre to explore the possibilities of bringing the excess stockpile of cattle feed ingredients in states like Punjab and Haryana to process and supply them to dairy farmers in the state at affordable prices.
The Minister was speaking after commissioning the state-of-the-art Cold Store set up at the Pathanamthitta Dairy of Thiruvananthapuram Regional Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union (TRCMPU) of Milma, increasing steeply the refrigeration capacity of the dairy from 50,000 litres to 1.15 lakh litres.
Ensuring adequate supply of cattle feed at affordable prices to farmers is a critical factor in increasing milk production and attaining self-sufficiency. To address this issue, the government has begun talks with the Centre to explore the possibilities of bringing the ingredients lying redundant in major agriculture states with the help of railways, the Minister said.
The material brought to the state through such an arrangement could be enriched to make high quality feed to be supplied to our farmers at affordable prices, Chinchurani said.
The interventions of the government have helped regulation of cattle feed prices in the open market to a great extent. This is in addition to subsidised sale of cattle feed by state-owned KFL and Milma, she said.
Milk production was one of the few sectors that could resist the crippling impact of the pandemic-induced crisis. The farmers down to the grass roots and Milma and its affiliates have played a key role in keeping the momentum in procurement and supply, she said.
Schemes like ‘Unarvu’ and ‘Ksheeragramam’ being implemented by the Government in co-ordination with Milma have helped farmers overcome the constraints imposed by the staggered Covid-19 pandemic, she said.
The Minister directed TRCMPU to provide cattle-feed to the dairy farmers at the most affordable prices possible.
The Minister also distributed at the function, the financial assistance under the ‘Unarvu’ project for co-operative societies having procurement of less than 200 litres of milk per day.
The commissioning of the Cold Store, built at a cost of Rs 1 crore under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), will help enhance the procurement of milk from the farmers in the area and strengthen marketing of milk, curd and other dairy products, TRCMPU Administrative Committee Convener Shri N Bhasurangan said in his welcome address.
TRCMPU has undertaken efforts to provide cattle-feed at the most affordable prices and will ensure that such interventions will be made from time to time, Shri Bhasurangan added.
Vallikode Panchayat President R Mohanan Nair presided over the function.
Pathanamthitta District Panchayat member Robin Peter, Konni Block Panchayat Vice-president Neetu Charly, Vallikode Village Panchayat Vice-President Soji P John, TRCMPU Administrative Committee members VS Padma Kumar, KR Mohanan Pillai and Managing Director DS Konda and Pathanamthitta Dairy Manager Ansari were also present.
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