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After depending on neighbouring states for almost half of its milk requirement, the Goa Government hopes that the new incentives proposed in the latest budget will help augment the production.
“The Government recently announced a hike in minimum support price of milk to Rs 2.50 per litre up to 100 litres from existing rates,” the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services Minister, Mr Ravi Naik, told the State Assembly on Friday.
The move will also help reduce the milk prices in the state, he said.
The Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat, who presented the budget on March 17, revised the proposals on Thursday and introduced a scheme that will benefit the milk producers in the state.
Mr Naik clarified that the subsidy on milk production would be provided directly to the farmer. “The department is confident that the scheme, `incentive to milk producers’, will further benefit the farmers and encourage them to pour their milk into the cooperative diary societies,” he said.
The state disbursed Rs 167.86 lakh during 2008-09, Rs 255.82 lakh in 2009-10 and Rs 115.95 lakh in 2010-11 under the scheme, the Animal Husbandry Minister said.
As per the Economic Survey, the demand for milk in Goa is estimated to be 3 lakh litres per day. Nearly 50 per cent of the supply comes from the neighbouring states.
One of the reasons why the output has not increased is that the cross breed cows brought from neighbouring states are not yielding milk as expected.
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