JAMMU, APRIL 26: Several delegations of Milk Cooperative Societies and Dairy Farmers from across Jammu Division on Sunday met Minister for Agriculture Production, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Cooperatives and Election Department, Javid Ahmad Dar, and apprised him of their demands for strengthening the sector.
The delegation sought interventions in milk procurement prices regulation, expansion of retail outlets at key urban locations and focused training support for the youth to set up dairy units. They also raised demand for increasing cooperative registrations, access to credit and need for stronger marketing and logistics.
Responding to the demands, the Minister called for closer coordination between the Animal Husbandry and Cooperative departments to ensure that farmers receive timely and effective support. He directed the officers to address the bottlenecks on priority and improve ground-level facilitation for dairy cooperatives.
Dar said that strengthening of the cooperatives is central to improve the farmer incomes and make the dairy sector more viable. He stressed the need to align institutional support and schemes so that the benefits reach the farmers in a practical manner.
The minister assured the delegations that the government is working to significantly expand the milk processing capacity in Jammu and Kashmir, from the current level of around 4 percent to 20 percent, through a mega dairy infrastructure development initiative. The move is expected to improve the value addition and provide better returns to dairy farmers and cooperatives.
He assured the delegation that their issues will be addressed through coordinated action, with a clear focus on strengthening the dairy value chain in the region.