Prepare schemes to boost dairy & livestock production: Himanta Biswa Sarma

GUWAHATI: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday held a meeting with Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department at his conference hall at Janata Bhawan and reviewed the implementation of various schemes.

He asked the department to propose three new schemes by July 7 to augment milk production and achieve self-reliance in pork and poultry production in order to stop imports. He directed to prepare a roadmap to attract youths to take up dairy and livestock farming through incentives and facilitation of bank loans and funds.

He said major intervention needs to be made by the department to boost the livestock sector in the shortest possible time to generate employment and amplify economic progress. The piggery sector holds immense potential for employment generation and Veterinary Dept. must explore ways to bring piglets of high yielding varieties from outside and distribute among pig farmers in the unorganised sector, he said.

The Chief Minister also directed to increase milch cow population in the state through the cross-breeding of local cattle with other high yielding varieties and said that youths must be facilitated with funds and technical support to take up dairy farming in a cooperative model.

He also asked the department to increase the number of artificial insemination (AI) of cattle through AI Workers (Gopal Mitras) in all corners of the state.

Emphasising the need to bring transformational change in the livestock and dairy sector in the State, Chief Minister Sarma said that the sector holds immense potential to generate employment and boost the economy of the State. He stressed the importance of reducing the import of pork, poultry and eggs to the state while working strategically to ramp up production at the earliest.

In another review meeting, the Chief Minister took a comprehensive review of the ongoing schemes and vision plan of the Fisheries Department.

Further underlining the potential of pisciculture for economic growth of the State, Chief Minister Sarma instructed the officials to develop large tanks in every village to be owned and maintained by the community under CMSGUY and individual ponds under MGNREGA. The Chief Minister also directed to identify ways and means for augmenting fish breeding and rearing in the water bodies of the state.

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