Jaipur, June 1
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on the occasion of the World Milk Day said that it is proud to say that Rajasthan is number one milk producer in the country with 15.05% of the country’s total milk production. The state is flying high in the field of animal husbandry and it is due to the state government’s welfare schemes for cattle-rearers.
In the recently released Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics 2022, the total milk production in the country in 2021-22 was 221.06 million tonnes and it registered an annual growth rate of 5.29%.
Rajasthan with 15.05% of the total milk production of the country ranks first, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 14.93%, Madhya Pradesh with 8.06%, Gujarat with 7.56% and Andhra Pradesh with 6.97%.
It is to be mentioned that World Milk Day was started on June 1, 2001 to recognise the importance of milk as a global food. It was launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Rajasthan Cooperative Dairy Federation Managing Director Sushma Arora said that the State Government in February 2019 started the Mukhyamantri Dugdh Utpadak Sambal Yojana (Chief Minister Milk Production Support Scheme) to extend support to the milk producers. A subsidy of Rs 2 per litre was being provided to the milk producers, which was increased to Rs 5 in the budget announcement of 2022-23. More than 8 lakh milk producers till date have been provided Rs 1109 crore as the subsidy.
Rajni Devi, a milk producer from Rampura Dabri in Jaipur district said that the Mukhyamantri Dugdh Utpadak Sambal Yojana has extended her financial support and with the money she is getting from this scheme is helping her to buy fodder for the cattle. Similarly, Rajesh, another milk producer from Khedla village in Dausa district said that the economic subsidy in this scheme has improved his standard of living and there is an increase in the family income, along with he is getting fair price for the milk.
Arora said that RCDF on January 10, 2023 created a history with a milk collection of 52.51 lakh litres on a single day. A total of 17805 milk producer cooperative societies are associated with RCDF out of which 8225 women milk producer cooperative societies. The Federation compared to last year has registered an increase of 20% in milk distribution, last year the sales on an average was 18.69 lakh litres per day, which this year has increased to 22.50 lakh litres per day.
The Chief Minister on November 29, 2022 launched the Mukhyamantri Bal Gopal Yojana under which students of class I to VIII in all the government schools are provided a glass full of milk. Currently, 68.56 lakh children of 67,760 schools are being distributed milk for free.
