Scheme to boost milk output

Jorhat, Feb. 6: The dairy development department has initiated a scheme with an aim to assist youths employed in dairy farming and boost milk production in the state by providing subsidy to the beneficiaries for buying crossbreed cattle.

Under the scheme ' Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana ' a group of 110 youths of Jorhat and Golaghat districts will get crossbred Jersey cows, with 50 per cent subsidy from the government, 4 per cent subsidy on their own share and 46 per cent bank loan at low interest rates.

In the first phase, a group of 70 beneficiaries, including a few women from Jorhat district, attended a three-day training camp that started from February 2-4 on the campus of the dairy development office, on the outskirts of Rowriah.

Putul Buragohain, president of Jorhat zila parishad, had inaugurated the training camp.

Experts from the Assam Agricultural University and veterinary department gave tips to the entrepreneurs during the training.

The beneficiaries are members of the 54 clusters of milk producers, who have been supplying milk from Jorhat and Golaghat districts to the dairy development department, which have been collecting the fresh milk for processing at the Bokakhat (Golaghat district) processing plant since the last few years.

Altogether 1,328 youths, including women, are members of the clusters.

Dairy development officer (Jorhat), Nilim Kumar Bora, whose office has jurisdiction over Golaghat and Sivasagar districts too, told The Telegraph that the daily shortfall of 1.5 lakh litres of milk in the districts is expected to come down once they get the additional cows.

Jorhat district produces 1.1 lakh litres of milk everyday, however, there is a shortfall of 1 lakh litres daily.

According to the figures of the official reports of the department, the milk produced in Golaghat is 70,000 litres per day, leaving a shortfall of 50,000 litres daily.

The official said after the new plan gets implemented by June this year, an additional 15,000-litre increase in the daily production of milk is expected.

Bora said in the next fortnight, the remaining 40 beneficiaries of the adjoining districts would be trained.

He said apart from the 110 youths in the past two years, 435 members have benefited from different schemes of the Centre and state governments under which subsidy to buy cattle were provided.

The official said the department had first set up two permanent booths for selling milk and other milk products in 2009 ' one each in Jorhat and Golaghat districts ' and both the outlets received overwhelming response.

In the past two years, four other outlets have been set up in both the districts.

At present, only one milk-processing plant is running in Bokakhat, Upper Assam, since 2005.

The Bokakhat plant was earlier a chilling unit, which was reopened in 2001 and upgraded to a pasteurisation plant in 2005, with state government funds (Rs 25 lakh).

The plant can process 2,000 litres of milk daily.