It’s a known fact that animal husbandry activities like rearing of cross bred cows and buffaloes, production and sale of milk can give significant supplementary income to the farmers. Despite this, very few farmers in Goa have taken animal husbandry trade seriously. As a result, more than 50% of milk consumed by the state comes from outside. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) recently released a report, which noted that Goa’s estimated milk production is only 1.61 lakh litres per day while the state’s requirement is 3.3 lakh litres a day.
Due to this situation, NABARD has come out with an area development scheme 2018-23, which is aimed at helping farmers in taking animal husbandry trade in a profitable manner. The scheme was released in a seminar recently conducted by NABARD.
This scheme is aimed at combining a number of state government’s subsidies with bank finance so that farmers can get into the business of rearing productive breeds of cows and buffaloes. In a way what NABARD is doing is nothing entirely new, but, it is definitely acting as a catalyst to ensure that different state and private resources come together in Goa for the betterment of animal husbandry.
NABARD has identified Thane and Sal villages in Bicholim Taluka, Netravali in Sanguem Block and Cotigao in Canacona Block as focus villages for the adoption of the scheme.
At the moment, this sector is plagued by a number of issues in the state. For example, Goa does not have recognized breeds of cattle. Moreover, quality cross bred animals are not available in the state.
Due to such limitations, NABARD has come out with clearly defined criteria for selecting the beneficiaries. The beneficiary should have 0.5 to 1 acre of land for fodder cultivation. He or she should be member of the village dairy co-operative society. Then, he or she should also have basic facilities like space/yard, fodder & cattle shed.
NABARD has kept the minimum unit size at 2 milch animals. However, multiple units of 2 milch animals can be considered as well depending upon the resources of the farmer.
To ensure that farmers don’t end up going for any cattle breeds, NABARD has proposed specific breeds of cows and buffaloes for the implementation of the scheme. For cows, it has proposed two breeds - Holstein Friesian (HF) and Jersey. For buffaloes, it has again proposed two breeds “ Murrah and Surthi.
What gives strength to NABARD’s scheme is that the state government has a number of incentives and subsidies for farmers keen on animal husbandry. For example, state government has a ‘Kamdhenu Sudharit Scheme’ under which farmers are given a subsidy on the cost of cross bred cows and buffaloes.
Apart from it, the government is implementing a number of schemes like Scheme for Cattle Feed Subsidy, Scheme for Incentives to Milk Producers, Pashupalan Scheme, Green Fodder Scheme, Dairy Kit Scheme and etc.
Such government subsidy helps in improving the credit-worthiness of dairy farmers, which makes it easier for bankers to extend finance to them. NABARD’s report says that banks in Valpoi and Bicholim blocks will be involved in the financing of milch animals. In South Goa, banks in Sanguem and Canacona blocks will be involved in the financing.
In North Goa, Goa State Co-operative Bank (GSCB) and State Bank of India (SBI) will be the prime lenders. In Sanguem Block, Bank of Baroda, Kurdi VKSS Society and GSCB will be prime lenders. In Canacona Block, Bank of Maharashtra and GSCB will be main lenders.
NABARD is in the process of implementing this scheme. A senior official from NABARD’s office in Panaji said, “Our district development manager will be presenting the area development scheme for the financing of milch animals to DCC (district consultation committee), which will be attended by senior bankers. Based on the presentation, bankers will form their plans to provide such loans to dairy farmers.”
However, it also mentioned lack of adequate awareness among farmers on scientific dairy farming as a weakness. This is where the state government and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) can play a significant role to make farmers more aware about scientific practices in dairy farming.
As of now, dairy farming sector in Goa is facing a number of issues like non availability of green fodder, high cost of cattle feed, poor quality of milch animals, inadequate milk production and etc.
However, NABARD’s scheme, if implemented in the right spirit, can significantly grow farmers’ income, create jobs for unemployed youth and can also create market for indigenous dairy products.
