The free milch animal and goats/sheep scheme of the Jayalalithaa Government has brought about impressive socio-economic changes in the villages, said T.K.M. Chinnayya, Animal Husbandry Minister.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the regional livestock expo organised under the aegis of the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS) at the Kamarajar Government Boys’ Higher Secondary School here on Saturday.
Mr. Chinnayya said that owing to the scheme 2.5 lakh families in the villages had been lifted from the below-poverty-line and made to lead a decent living.
Till now 24,000 milch animals had been given to so many beneficiaries and these had yielded 2,185 calves. From these milch animals 80,000 litres of milk a day was obtained and supplied to the Aavin.
The Minister further said that the 10 lakh goats/sheep given to 2.5 lakh beneficiaries had littered 2.41 lakh kids.
He emphatically said that now was the golden period for the Animal Husbandry department and the cattle breeders, because Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had launched very many schemes for improving the cattle wealth of the State.
For instance, she had started two veterinary colleges, one at a cost of Rs. 12 crore at Thanjavur and another at a cost of Rs. 16 crore at Tirunelveli. He was proud to note that in poultry production Tamil Nadu stood second in the country. As of now, the poultry farms were concentrated mainly at Namakkal, Dharapuram and Palladam.
To expand the poultry production across the State, she had earmarked Rs. 22 crore to set up poultry farms in seven districts and farms for raising country chicken in 16 districts.
For raising the poultry production and management techniques to match international standards, the Chief Minister had ordered the setting up of a centre at Hosur on 80 acres of land in the cattle farm there and for the purpose has allocated Rs. 45 crore. The minister further said the TANUVAS had already set up training and research centres at Villupuram, Tiruvannamalai and Krishnagiri and three more such centres would be set up soon at Ramanathapuram, Nagapattinam and Perambalur.
Rural Industries Minister P. Mohan said the Chief Minister had significantly enhanced the allocation for the overall development of the animal husbandry and fisheries sectors.
With this view in mind, she had set aside a sum of Rs. 990.921 crore to the Animal Husbandry Department for 2013-2014 and Rs. 467.44 crore for the Fisheries Department.
Mr. Mohan noted that fishing was the sole source of livelihood for as many as 8.11 lakh families in 608 coastal villages.
Besides inaugurating the expo having a total of 80 stalls, the Ministers also released handbooks giving tips on cattle and poultry breeding.
Collector V. Sampath; TANUVAS Vice-Chancellor R. Prabhakaran; TANUVAS extension centre director S. Chandrahasan; M. Anandan, MP; C.Ve. Shanmugam, N.I. Janakiraman, R. Kumaraguru and R. Ramamurthy, MLAs ; Public Relations Officer R. Singaram; and others participated.
