Long way before Goa becomes ‘swayampurna’

Panaji: Reflecting slow progress in the state’s growth towards becoming ‘swayampurna’ or self-reliant in milk availability, there has been a slight improvement in Goa’s milk production.

From 63,000 tonnes in 2021-22, it went up to 64,000 tonnes in 2022-23.

Information disclosed by the ministry of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying in the parliament reveals that the pace of milk production in the state slowed down in the last three years after an initial indication that it would be on the growth path.

In 2022-23, the state recorded only 1.5 per cent increase in milk production, which was much lower than the growth rate of 5 per cent achieved in the previous year.

According to the ministry, the annual growth rate of milk production in the country did, in fact, come down in 2022-23 to 3.8 per cent from 5.8 per cent in 2021-22 due to the lumpy skin disease affecting the dairy cattle.

However, in Goa, besides the lumpy disease outbreak, which affected around 32 dairy cattle in February, there are numerous challenges being faced by the dairy farmers.

The difficulties encountered in improving milk productivity include small size of farms, shortage of fodder, lack of equipment to carry out dairy activities, difficulty in acquiring quality cattle and absence of infrastructure for storage of milk.

The state presently has around seven schemes to promote dairy farming which includes the Kamdhenu scheme for purchase of cows.

The other schemes are incentives to milk producers registered with dairy co-operatives, Pashupalan scheme for care of newborn calves, financial incentive for fodder cultivation, dairy equipment scheme, financial assistance to dairy farmers in tribal areas and incentives for community dairy farms.

Ironically, the slow progress in milk production is despite the fact that dairy farming is a profitable business in the state due to the incentives offered by the government.