Dairy Entrepreneurship has huge potential in JK: Advisor Sharma

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) in collaboration with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) organized a daylong webinar to promote dairy farming sector in  Jammu & Kashmir.
The webinar was presided over by Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, K.K. Sharma. It was attended by scores of young entrepreneurs both physically as well as virtually.
The Advisor highlighted the importance of dairy entrepreneurship and urged the youth to come forward and use the latest technology to increase productivity. “We need to look at all the aspects of dairy entrepreneurship. There are some untapped niche markets in the dairy sector. There is a huge demand of Goat milk and its processing. We need to study such opportunities so that the young entrepreneurs will tap this potential,” said Sharma.
The Advisor also urged various government agencies to set up farmer friendly policies and assured the entrepreneurs of full support from the Government.  He said the youth should also take full advantage of various government interventions being done to catalyse and support the entrepreneurial ecosystem especially for the young and enterprising minds.
“The sector has huge potential of increasing the income of the people living in the rural areas besides also opening up the avenues for the aspiring entrepreneurs resulting in job creation and  contributing to the economy of Jammu and Kashmir”, the Advisor added.
Dr R S Sodhi, Managing Director, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd., (AMUL) was the key speaker in the webinar. “The Indian food and dairy sector is valued at INR 40 lakh crores, out of which around INR 4 Lakh crores are from the organized sector and Jammu and Kashmir contribute to around 2- 3 per cent, ” said Dr Sodhi. He said the entrepreneurs can opt for breeding of calves, establish cattle feed farms, establish artificial insemination facilities, provide logistic support and start milk processing units.
Director JKEDI, G.M Dar, highlighted the role of JKEDI in promoting entrepreneurship in J&K and the challenges faced by the entrepreneurs in the Dairy Farming sector. He said there is a need for up-gradation of the dairy sector in J&K on modern lines and techniques so that the quality milk is made available to people. Dar said the educated youth of the state is slowly getting attracted to the sector. The budding entrepreneurs in the dairy sector need training and expertise; and JKEDI can collaborate with other allied departments to play an important role in order to promote such entrepreneurs.
The Director also said Jammu & Kashmir produces 70 Lakh Litres of milk per day. He said Kashmir  alone produces 40 Lakh Litre while Jammu produces 30 Lakh Litres per day. He said J&K has a huge potential in the dairy sector to generate jobs for thousands of unemployed youth.
Director Industries, Kashmir, Mehmood Ahmed Shah, also spoke on the occasion. He stressed on the need of having milk chilling plants and expressed concerns for the lack of silage in J&K.
This webinar is a part of the series initiated for educated unemployed youth. The audience actively participated in the webinar and asked insightful questions. Many successful entrepreneurs sponsored by JKEDI also attended the webinar and apprised the participants about the ups and downs of choosing entrepreneurship as a career choice.
The webinar was also attended by Irfan Ahmed Guju, Chairman FICCI J&K, Farooq Ahmed Najar, HR & Admin Head, J&KMPCL (Milk Federation), Joint Director, Animal Husbandry Department and faculty members of JKEDI. The webinar ended with vote of thanks by  Rajesh Kumar from FICCI.