Naya J-K: Dairy farming opens new employment avenues, makes youth self-reliant

Srinagar: Dairy farming has emerged as one of the potential sectors to generate employment in Jammu and Kashmir, especially in rural areas.
After August 5, 2019, when the Centre announced its decision to abrogate J-K's special status and bifurcated it into two Union Territories, the government has encouraged the youngsters in hilly areas to take up dairy farming to earn their livelihoods. Jammu and Kashmir is an agrarian region the agriculture sector contributes 16.18% to the UT's GDP, of which the dairy sector constitutes more than one-third. The region offers huge scope for the promotion of the dairy sector and the government is exploring that potential.
Nearly 80 per cent of the J-K population lives in rural areas and about 60 per cent of the revenue is generated by the agriculture and animal husbandry sector.
Dairy farming during the past three years has emerged as a potential source of additional income for people living in rural areas.
The government has given a flip to it by introducing several schemes aimed at helping and uplifting marginalized farmers.
For setting up a dairy unit with five cows the government provides a male entrepreneur with a subsidy of Rs 1.75 lakhs, while female and SC and ST entrepreneurs get Rs 2 lakh subsidy for setting up a dairy farm with five cows. One can even avail subsidy for multiple farms.
As a value addition to dairy farming, the government is providing milk ATMs to the farmers and they are getting viable subsidies on these machines.
In Kashmir only there are more than 500 single five-cow units and their number is increasing with each passing day.
Jammu and Kashmir is producing 70 lakh litres of milk per day, of which 40 lakh litres are produced in Kashmir and 30 lakh litres in the Jammu region.
"White Revolution" has become popular in J-K with more and more people becoming a part of it. Thousands of farmers across the Union Territory have been roped in to join the march towards prosperity and they are being made self-reliant.
The price of milk across Jammu and Kashmir is picking up. As per the 20th Livestock Census conducted in 2019, Jammu and Kashmir had a livestock population of 82 lakh. The Milk Production as per ISS data 2018-19 stood at 2541 TMT. For improving milk production and productivity in Jammu and Kashmir, the government has taken many steps like genetic up-gradation of cattle, cattle induction, fodder development, milk procurement, processing and health cover and risk management.
In 2021, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India had agreed to distribute 15000 dairy units of two cows each as a special package for J&K under the Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme. The scheme was financed by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) through commercial banks. Many farmers have got benefited due to this scheme and during the last one year, they have doubled their incomes through dairy farming.
To make milk production a profitable business cooperatives have been established across the Union Territory to supply dairy products directly to consumers.
The officials have been working hard to enhance milk production in J-K. They have formulated innovative strategies to market dairy products. Milk processing units are being promoted as a part of the marketing strategy.
The government is working on a milk production expansion plan proposal for the Jammu and Kashmir Milk Producers Cooperative Limited (JKMPCL) for raising the capacity of JKMPCL from 50,000 LPD of milk production to 2.5 Lakh LPD.
The administration has roped in the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and is focusing on revamping the poultry and dairy sector in the Himalayan region.
The government taking numerous steps to turn dairy farming into a vibrant sector in Jammu and Kashmir has provided the rural population with an opportunity to enhance their incomes and become a part and parcel of the development process post abrogation of Article 370, a temporary provision in the Constitution of India.
When the contentious Article 370 was scrapped, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, had promised the people that J-K's complete integration with the Union of India would open up new vistas and avenues for them. Both leaders have kept up their promises as the results are evident.
For 70 years, an important dairy sector didn't figure in the priority list of the erstwhile political regimes in Jammu and Kashmir. The former rulers were least interested in enhancing the incomes of the farmers and the rural population. People living in the rural areas were nothing but a vote bank for the political leaders.
Jammu and Kashmir is famous for its green pastures and abundant water resources which help the local vegetation to grow in abundance. These factors offer tremendous scope for dairy and other related activities. But the erstwhile regimes couldn't formulate a comprehensive policy to explore the possibilities which could have helped in creating employment avenues and extra income for the people living in hilly areas of the Himalayan region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led's regime has left no stone unturned to explore all the options that could help the local residents to stand on their own feet. It has ensured that J-K becomes a part of the "White Revolution" and comes at par with the other parts of the country.
In the Gross Value Added from agriculture, the livestock sector in J&K contributed 28 per cent in 2019-20. A growth rate of 6 per cent per annum in milk production provided great support to farmers. This rate has increased steadily during the past two years.
The demand for dairy products always remains high and finding a market is not that difficult. The income generated from the dairy sector is helping the farmers in J-K overcome the losses they face due to a poor crop or some other reason.
The government has been putting in relentless efforts to make lives easy for the people and is providing them with ample opportunities to enhance their incomes.
As of date many youths in J-K have started dairy units and are eking out their livings in a decent way. Till 2019, concepts like dairy farming were not that popular but in "Naya J-K" many new ideas have changed the destinies of the people and they have become equal stakeholders in peace, progress, prosperity and development of the Union Territory. (ANI)