BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday announced that the Government will set up two dairy plants in a bid to encourage the farmers. The new plants, each with a capacity of processing 30,000 litres of milk per day, will be set up at Angul and Keonjhar.
Inaugurating a national symposium on ‘Women empowerment through dairying’, Naveen said the Government also proposes to establish two ice-cream plants, one at Bhawanipatna and another at Sambalpur, and a cattle feed plant on the outskirts of the Capital.
He said the State’s milk production has increased from 1.4 million tonnes per annum in 2006-07 to 1.78 million tonnes in 2013-14. About 80 per cent of the total milk is generated by small holders and the rest by dairy cooperatives. As many as 800 dairy cooperatives are being managed by women.
Odisha currently produces about 112 gms of milk per day per capita against the national average of 290 gms. Highlighting the growth possibilities in dairy farming in the State, NDDB Chairman T Nanda Kumar laid out some ground rules to boost milk production. They are genetic improvisation of cattle quality, balanced ration for cattle feed and strengthening the dairy cooperatives. NDDB’s priority was to include 50 per cent women in cooperatives as dairy farming was increasingly becoming a tool for socio-economic development, he added.
Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy said present cattle population in the State stands at 1.23 crore. The Government has increased milk prices in two phases to provide adequate margin to dairy farmers. Chief Secretary GC Pati said the Government is committed to the cause and would work towards enlisting more women dairy farmers in cooperatives.
The two-day conference was organised by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) where women dairy farmers from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha participated.
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