Dairy farmers in Tamil Nadu are to get famous high cross-breeds of Jersey and Holstein-Friesian from this fiscal under the State Government's free milch cows scheme aimed at a second ‘white revolution'

Fine-tuning its breeding policy to achieve maximum result under the scheme, a pet project of the Chief Minister, Ms Jayalalithaa, the Government has decided to distribute cows from the famous cross-breeds essentially not above five years from 2012-13.

“The breeding policy of the State envisages rearing of the cross-bred Jersey cows in the plains and cross bred Holstein-Friesian cows in the hilly areas of the state, as the these cows yield an average of 2.5 times the milk yield of indigenous cows,” a recent order by the Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Department said.

Wanting to continue milk production uninterrupted for the next five years, the Government has also proposed to supply only lactating cows that are in their first or second lactation and the animal should not be more than five years.

Milch cows would be procured for 12,000 beneficiaries at Rs 30,000 each this fiscal.

The State Government has been issuing free milch cows to the rural poor since September 15 last year, intending to cover 60,000 beneficiaries in the State in five years and to give a boost to the milk productivity of the State.

Published on April 22, 2012