Lucknow
It is no secret that Uttar Pradesh (UP) is among the top dairy producers in India and has the largest livestock population as well.
Now, with less than six months remaining for the crucial 2022 UP elections, the Yogi Adityanath-led state government is giving impetus to the dairy sector to generate rural employment.
“The fresh investments being made in the UP dairy sector have created massive employment opportunities in the rural areas. The number of villagers doing milk business by rearing milch cattle is increasing consistently,” a senior state government official said.
In the last four years, six big companies, including Amul, have set up their captive dairy plants at an investment of Rs 172 crore in UP, while work is underway on establishing seven more units. At the same time, 15 new investment proposals are being evaluated by the state authorities.
UP’s milk output is increasing at an average of more than 0.9 million tonnes (MT) annually. According to official figures, the state milk production has jumped from 27.77 MT in 2016-17 to 31.86 MT in 2019-20.
Today UP tops the country’s milk chart by contributing more than 17 percent of the total milk production. The state is further developing dairy societies to improve the milk business. Currently, there are 21,537 milk societies in UP.
To promote the sector, the government has started preserving milch cattle with the setting up of greenfield dairies, especially in Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Meerut, Bareilly, Kannauj, Gorakhpur, Firozabad, Ayodhya and Moradabad districts. Four existing dairies at Jhansi, Noida, Aligarh and Prayagraj are being upgraded.
Furthermore, the Yogi government sanctioned Rs 272 crore for the establishment of cow protection centres in 75 districts for the protection and maintenance of deserted bovine. According to the 20th animal census, there are more than 20 million bovine animals in UP.
“All these efforts collectively have resulted in rousing considerable interest among investors in the dairy industry, many of whom have already set up their plants whereas several others are working on it,” he added.
So far, several dairy plants have sprung up in UP. These include units by Purvanchal Agrico, Shrestha Food, Desi Dairy, New Amit Food, Creamy Food and CP Milk in Ghazipur, Bijnor, Meerut, Gonda, Bulandshahr and Lucknow respectively.
To promote cattle rearing and milk production, the state has launched Gokul Award and Nand Baba Award to fete the highest producer of milk from indigenous cow breeds.
Moreover, the government has given credit cards to 1.2 million registered dairy farmers in the rural areas, which has led to a significant increase in the number of cattle.