22 pc rise in milk production in Goa

There has been a 22 per cent increase in milk production in Goa in the current fiscal when compared to 2017-18, a state Animal Husbandry department official said Friday.

The department's data showed daily milk production till December last year stood at 81,655 litres, up from 66,000 litres per day in 2016-17 and 72,000 litres per day in 2017-18.

The data, collected by the department from cooperative dairy societies in the state, revealed that Goa's milk production had doubled in the last eight years.

Milk production per day in 2011-12 was 40,000 litres, an official said.

Despite the commendable rise in milk production, the official pointed out that it was still not good enough to match the state's daily requirement which stood at 3.5 lakh litres.

He said the state government's 'Kamdhenu' scheme, in which farmers are given financial incentives to buy milch cattle, was one of the reasons for the production upswing.

Over 3,600 farmers have benefited from the scheme and a sum of Rs 54 crore had been spent on it since 2012, the official informed.

For the current financial year, till December 2018, farmers had bought 1,533 animals in 38 cattle fairs organised by the government, he said.