Each household in Telangana is going to get two buffaloes. The State government, which studied the dairy industry, has decided to increase the dairy production that is found to be far lower than the demand.
“We are going to increase the cattle population by giving animals to women from backward classes. We will set up a Rs 250-crore mega dairy in the State. We have approached the Union Government to help us in this regard,” Pocharam Sreenivasa Reddy, Telangana Minister for Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, has said.
Stating that income from dairy was dependable, the Minister said the number of dairy farms is very low in the State.
Talking to Business Line on the sidelines of a CII-APTDC meet on opportunities in the dairy sector hereon Friday, he said the per capita consumption of milk was very low in Telangana when compared to the national average.
The DairyBiz India 2014 showcased sustainable technologies and entrepreneurship development opportunities in the dairy industry.
Delivering the theme address, A K Srivastava, Director and Vice-Chancellor of National Dairy Research Institute, gave an overview of the research and development in dairy development.
Farm loans
The Minister said the farmers received about Rs 6,000 crore of farm loans in the kharif season. “About 14 lakh farmers are able to renew the loans after the government released Rs 4,250 crore to banks as part of the loan waiver scheme,” he said.