KOTTAYAM: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that the ‘Govardhini’ project, initiated by the Kerala Livestock Development Board, is a significant step towards making the state self-sufficient in milk production.
He was speaking after carrying out the state-level inauguration of the project and a meeting of indigenous dairy farmers at Mammen Mappillai hall here on Friday. According to him, the scheme, aimed at distributing one lakh calves within a year, is a visionary project in the milk production sector. He said the government could initiate fruitful steps in the past three years to ensure maximum possible price for milk to the dairy farmers in the state.
“The government was stern in its decision to give total or maximum possible percentage of the increased price for milk to dairy farmers. The price for the milk was increased with an objective to encourage the farmers to increase the production and thereby achieve self sufficiency as we are still depending on other states to meet our requirements,” he said. The CM inaugurated the project by handing over a pass book to Moorthu, a dairy farmer from Karappuzha. Delivering the presidential address, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister K P Mohanan said his department is interested in commencing cattle farms in each panchayat in the state.