The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr N Kiran Kumar Reddy, has asked the farmers to go for dairying in a big way for steady stream of incomes every month. Every farm family should invest on dairy for sustainable incomes. They should diversify into dairy and poultry segments, he said.

Inaugurating the three-day Dairy Show here on Friday, he cited the example of Chittoor district farmers could increase the gross state domestic product (GSDP) in the district by Rs 300 crore in the last 5-6 years. We need to link agriculture with allied activities such as animal husbandry and fisheries, he said. Realising the importance of the allied sectors, the State had launched the Rs 6,000-crore Milk Mission to promote the industry in a holistic way, the Chief Minister said. Several hundred farmers, dairy equipment manufacturers and representatives from dairy industry have taken part in the event being held at HITEX exhibition facility at Madhapur. With farmers coming from several districts, the officials of State Animal Husbandry Department have made arrangements to showcase high-yielding cows and buffaloes from different States in one of the halls. Mr Manmohan Singh, Principal Secretary (Animal Husbandry), has said that the dairy sector proved to be a gender equaliser, with women controlling a good part of the activity. “In drought situations, dairy sector comes in handy to farmers by providing timely incomes.”. Mr P. Mohanaiah, Chief General Manager (AP) of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), wanted the State Government to expand the Kamadhenu project to all the districts.

> kurmanath@thehindu.co.in

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