Rs 200 cr subsidy for 4.5 lakh dairy farmers

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has provided nearly Rs 200 crore as subsidy to over 4.5 lakh dairy farmers under Mukhyamantri Kamdhenu Yojana, Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Minister Gokulananda Mallik said here on Wednesday.

Addressing a programme organised to celebrate National Milk Day, Mallik said the BJP government launched the scheme last year with an aim to double the milk production in the State in five years.

“While approximately 72 lakh litres of milk are produced annually in the State, our efforts are underway to double it,” he said. Under the scheme, up to 70 per cent subsidy is provided, he said.

So far, more than 8,000 dairy farmers of Odisha have bought cows from outside the State and are getting empowered through milk production, Mallik said. Stating that OMFED (Odisha State Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation Limited) has become a beacon of light for the milk producers, the minister said about 3 lakh dairy farmers of the State are getting benefits through about 4,000 milk producers’ cooperative societies of OMFED.

On the occasion, the minister launched seven new products of OMFED. He emphasised the use of new technology to increase milk production while virtually inaugurating a sex-sorted semen laboratory in Cuttack.