Dairy farmers in the district alleged that the Animal Husbandry Department had not properly assessed livestock deaths caused by foot-and-mouth disease.
At a farmers’ grievance day meeting held here on Friday, many farmers said they had suffered huge losses after the death of their cattle and goats, their mainstay. T. Ramamoorthy, a dairy farmer from Melur, said: “Cows which have been giving 17 litres of milk a day are giving only seven litres after the administration of vaccines. There were many cattle deaths reported in Melur but no proper post-mortem was carried out.”
Collector L. Subramanian directed the officials to assess the situation and submit a report.
The farmers said dry fodder depots must be set up at block level. “While we are receiving fodder at Rs.2 per kg, the registration and procurement centres are functioning only at three places in the district.
Most of us end up spending a lot on transportation and are not really benefited from the subsidised rates,” said A. Muthpandi, a dairy farmer.
The three fodder depots are functioning at Melur, Usilampatti and Tirumangalam. Farmers can register for five animals and buy a maximum of three kg of subsidised fodder per animal.
