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The latest announcements under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan will help ease out the working capital crisis for handling surplus milk and enable timely payment to farmers, the apex dairy body National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) stated welcoming the announcements made by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday.
To offset the economic impact of Covid -19 and the lockdown, on the dairy sector, the Government introduced a new scheme "Interest subvention on Working Capital Loans for dairy sector" for Supporting Dairy Cooperatives and Farmer Producer Organizations engaged in dairy activities (SDC&FPO).
Dilip Rath, Chairman, NDDB welcomed the support provided to the dairy sector to mitigate the hardship of dairy farmers under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan.
The latest scheme provides interest subvention of 2 per cent per annum, with an additional incentive of 2per cent per annum interest subvention to be given in case of prompt and timely repayment/interest servicing.
The scheme, which will be implemented through NDDB, will help to ease out the working capital crisis for handling surplus milk and enable timely payment to the farmers. It will unlock ₹5,000 crore additional liquidity, Rath stated.
The ₹15,000-crore Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund will provide benefits to many areas in the country with high milk production potential.
"The fund, for the first time, would promote private investment in dairy processing, value addition and cattle feed infrastructure. Establishing plants for export-oriented units for niche products is also a welcome step," Rath stated adding that ₹13,343-crore push to the National Animal Disease Control Programme for eradication and control of FMD and Brucellosis through nationwide vaccination programme is a welcome step.
The encouragement to cold chain infrastructure under Agri Infrastructure Fund would improve milk quality, he mentioned.
NDDB also looks at the inclusion of Animal husbandry under Kisan credit card as help to migrant labourers who would stay back in villages to purchase milch animals for sustaining their livelihoods. The announcement of ₹4,000 crore support for herbal cultivation will help promote Pashu Ayurveda-based Ethno Veterinary Medicine for animal diseases control, being aggressively promoted by NDDB- an effective and efficient method of treatment (which will also improve the quality of milk).
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