The Indian dairy sector has welcomed the provisions in the interim budget, which has hiked funding for crucial programmes and its aim to create a new institution for genetic betterment of cows.

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (AMUL) MD Rupinder Singh Sodhi said that the enhancement in allocation for the Rashtriya Gokul Mission to ₹750 crore in the current year itself and the benefit of 2 per cent interest subvention will greatly help farmers in the animal husbandry business.

Veteran Gir cow breeder Satyajit Khachar says that cow breeders are looking forward to support for creating infrastructure such as cow sheds and land for setting up the sheds.

Khachar’s royal family has been breeding Gir breed from Jasdan for over 300 years. The breed is renowned for its hardy nature and tolerance to heat stress conditions. It has high milk producing capacity along with huge resistance to several tropical diseases. The breed has been exported to Brazil, USA and Mexico for further successful breeding programs.

Khachar pointed that today Brazil is a large repository of Gir cows, which are known for their high milk-producing capacity, “Although land conditions in India and Brazil cannot be compared but with right nutrition and support from the Indian government, Indian Gir cow can compete globally,” he said.

But there is a catch, as dairy farmers want a better grass root mechanism for successful implementation of Centre and State Government programmes.

Kolhapur based dairy farmer, Sagar Killedar, who is also a dairying trainer for hundreds of farmers in the region says that unless farmers get ground support from local government, none of the dairy sector programmes are going to be successful.

Killedar is associated with Gokul Dairy, which is the largest cooperative sector dairy in Maharashtra.

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