Srinagar: Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam Tuesday chaired a meeting of the State Level Executive Committee (SLEC) for overseeing the implementation of National Livestock Mission (NLM).
Dr O.P Chaudhary, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries, GoI participated in the meeting.
Principal Secretary, Animal & Sheep Husbandry, Principal Secretary, Planning Development & Monitoring, Commissioner/Secretary Forest, Ecology & Environment, Dean Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, SKUAST, Jammu, Dean Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, SKUAST Kashmir and other senior officers were also present in the meeting.
While enunciating the importance of the livestock sector in the lives of people including the Nomadic population of the State, Chief Secretary called for giving focussed attention to this sector for better productivity and returns.
Principal Secretary, Animal & Sheep Husbandry while presenting a glimpse of the production statistics informed that Milk production in the State has reached 2526 Thousand MTs, Mutton 350 Lakh Kgs, Poultry 629 Lakh Kgs, Wool 82 Lakh Kgs and Fish 20.70 Thousand MTs. He said the livestock sector has witnessed gradual improvement in terms of quantity and quality, however, fodder development requires sustained focus to address the shortfall.
The Committee after detailed deliberations approved the project proposals of the Animal and Sheep Husbandry department for the year 2018-19, to the tune of Rs 35.21 Crore. The proposals include livestock development, breed improvement, intervention towards productivity enhancement, fodder and feed development, skill development, technology transfer & extension and risk management.
Under livestock development, focus will be on development of poultry project & hatchery at Udhampur, strengthening of poultry projects at Hariparbath, Mattan, Acchabal and Zakura and strengthening of Government sheep farms in Kashmir and Jammu regions.
To address shortfall of fodder, focus will be on development of government owned fallow lands, fodder seed production, procurement and distribution, development of fodder stations and bringing forest land under fodder development.
