It may be a tall order, but a senior government official on Wednesday requested cooperative milk federations and private dairies to halve their use of plastic before October 2, when the country observes the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Chairing a meeting of top officials of State cooperative dairy federations and private dairies, Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Secretary Atul Chaturvedi said the dairy industry should strive to cut plastic use at least by half by October 2.

He appealed to the media to run a sustained campaign to discourage the use of plastic by people.

3R strategy

Chaturvedi called for a 3R strategy — Reduce, Rebate and Reuse — whereby plastic use is cut by subsidising the price of one-litre pack over half-litre pack, giving rebates to customers for returning plastics, and reuse pouches, a statement said.

The meeting — also attended by officials of the Ministries of Women and Child Development, Commerce and Industry, and Education — reviewed with milk processors the availability, supply, price their products, and issues relating to export and import.

The milk procurement price, it was observed, has gone up by ₹1-2 a litre across the country.

The representatives were requested to focus on the quality aspects of milk and in reducing the cost of production.

The meeting also sought the views of the stakeholders on breeding, feeding, disease management, traceability issues so as to draw up a policy to double productivity, exports and farmers income in the next five years.

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