Vadodara/ Anand: Centre is evolving a scheme to provide pension of Rs 3,000 per month to farmers. Union minister of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying Giriraj Singh said this on Friday.
Singh, who was on a one-day visit to milk city Anand, said that he has discussed this “revolutionary” scheme with officials of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) and the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Limited (Amul Dairy).
“After 60 years, nine crore farmers, of which 2 crore are involved as members with the milk unions, will get Rs 3,000 as pension. I had come to discuss this scheme and modalities with NDDB and Amul here,” he said.
When asked about the funding pattern, the union minister claimed that half of the fund will be sanctioned by the centre while the milk unions will fund the rest of the amount.
He stressed that milk is country’s single largest agricultural commodity in value terms and is more than the combined value of paddy and wheat put together.
Earlier in the day, he visited Anand’s Zakariyapura village where dairy farmers have installed biogas plants to produce gas that is used as cooking fuel. The bio slurry produced from these biogas plants is used by the farmers in their own field and surplus bio slurry is either sold to other farmers or converted into organic fertilisers.
NDDB’s Sudhan trademark also helps them in creating a brand identity ensuring quality of products. While lauding the model, he advised to promote poultry amongst small dairy farmers to enhance their incomes.
He also visited NDDB’s modern ovum pick up and in vitro embryo production (OPU-IVEP) facility, an assisted reproductive technology to multiply elite germ plasm at a faster rate. This R&D facility has been established to standardise the OPU-IVEP technology in cattle and buffaloes and also to train veterinarians for large scale adoption of the technology.
Singh takes dig at Nehru over Gir cows
Union minister Giriraj Singh also took a dig at former Prime Minister late Jawaharlal Nehru.
“After Independence, if Nehruji had paid attention to gav and garib kisan (village and poor villagers), Gujarat’s Gir cows would have not been in Brazil as Girlando giving 50 litres milk. They would have been right here in Gujarat,” said Singh.
The union minister claimed that in six years, PM Narendra Modi has assigned the work of indigenous breed development to 30 institutes in the country.