CHENNAI: Milk production in Tamil Nadu has gone up by 1.2 lakh litres per day and 18,356 new born calves were added to the cattle population as a result of the 36,000 milch cows distributed by the initiatives of Chief Minister J Jayalalitha, Animal Husbandary Minister TKM Chinnayya said on Saturday.
Speaking at the valedictory of the 21st Annual Convention of Indian Society for Veterinary Immunology and Biotechnology at the Madras Veterinary College, he said the 6 lakh goats distributed free by the government have more than doubled their population to increase to 14.86 lakh.
According to him in the three years that the scheme has been implemented, about 1.2 lakh people who have received milch cows and over 1.5 lakh beneficiaries who have received goats are reaping the benefits of the scheme.
He also informed that Tamil Nadu accounts for 17.71 per cent of the poultry population of the country and more than 90 per cent of poultry products exported from India originates from the state.
The minister distributed several awards to the participating students and prize winning presentations at the conference which has drawn several delegates from the US and UK. Secretary to Government, Animal Husbandary, Dairying and Fisheries Department, S Vijayakumar, President of ISVIB, RK Singh, Dean of Virginia - Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, USA, Cyril Clarke and Vice -Chancellor of TANUVAS, TJ Harikrishnan, were present on the occasion.