Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry Dairying and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, GoI, Tarun Shridhar chaired a meeting of Executive Committee (EC) for approval of project proposals under National Livestock Mission 2018-19 (NLM) at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi on 28/08/2018.Joint Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry Dairying & Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, GoI, Dr O.P Chaudhary, Principal Secretary to J&K Government, Animal/Sheep Husbandry/Fisheries/Transport Departments Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon, Secretary, Animal Husbandry Department, Uttarakhand Dr R Meenakshi Sundaram participated in the meeting.Representatives from Ministry of Food Processing Industries/Environment & Forests/Panchayati Raj/Rural Development/Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises/Development of North Eastern Region/Health & Family Welfare/Women & Child Development and other stakeholders were also present in the meeting.While emphasizing the importance of livestock sector in ensuring food security and employment generation to the masses Tarun Shridhar, Secretary DADF called for a focused attention towards doubling farmers income by 2022.
Principal Secretary, Animal/Sheep Husbandry/Fisheries/Transport while presenting various facets of the proposal under National Livestock Mission 2018-19 informed the Executive Committee about various components of the detailed project report. Principal Secretary apprised that the NLM 2018-19 is inclusive of a component for import of Multi Purpose Merino/Rambouillet sheep from Australia/New Zealand/United States to overcome inbreeding and to boost mutton/wool production in the State at a cost of Rs 13.28 crore which is a major activity in the proposal. It was also given out that the State has projected a proposal for insurance of livestock under which 13100 crossbred cattle would be covered against risk cover at an estimated cost of Rs 1.94 crore.Principal Secretary also apprised the house about the meager allocation of Rs 2.49 crore conveyed to the State by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare under NLM and advocated the demand put forth by the State for enhanced allocation to meet State requirements.Principal Secretary, Animal & Sheep Husbandry while highlighting the progress of the state informed that Milk production in the State has reached 2526 Thousand MTs, Mutton 350 Lakh Kgs, Poultry 629 Lakh Kgs, Wool 82 Lakh Kgs, Fish 20.70 Thousand MTs and Trout 500MTs. He said that the livestock sector has witnessed improvement in terms of quantity and quality, however, fodder development requires sustained focus to address the shortfall. On the occasion, Samoon said that the current proposal is aimed to transform the livestock sector by making it a competitive enterprise besides generating employment for the youth.The Committee after detailed deliberations approved the project proposals for J&K under NLM for the year 2018-19, to the tune of Rs 19.10 crore as central share and a corresponding state share of Rs 3.42 crore making a total approved allocation of Rs 22.52 crore.