The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi inaugurated International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit (IDF WDS) 2022 organised at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida, today. Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said that the World Dairy Summit is going to be a great medium for the exchange of ideas. “The potential of the dairy sector not only gives impetus to the rural economy but is also a major source of livelihood for crores of people across the world, he said.
PM stressed the growing entrepreneurial structures like FPAs and women self-help groups, and startups. He said that the sector has seen more than 1000-startups in recent times. He also talked about the strides in Gobardhan Yojna and said that aim is to reach a situation where dairy plants produce their own electricity from Gobar. The resulting manure will help the farmers also.
Drawing an analogy to farming, the Prime Minister said that animal husbandry and farming require diversity, and monoculture might not be the only solution. The Prime Minister stressed that today, India is paying equal attention to both indigenous breeds and hybrid breeds. He further elaborated that it will also reduce the risk of damage caused by climate change.
The Prime Minister addressed another major problem that is affecting the income of farmers which is the diseases of animals. “When the animal is sick it affects the life of the farmer, affecting his income. It also affects the efficiency of the animal, the quality of its milk and other related products”, he added. The Prime Minister emphasised that in this direction, India is working toward universal vaccination of animals. “We have resolved that by 2025, we will vaccinate 100% of the animals against Foot and Mouth Disease and Brucellosis. We are aiming to be completely free from these diseases by the end of this decade, the Prime Minister remarked.
Stressing the use of modern technology, the Prime Minister said that India is building the largest database of dairy animals and every animal associated with the dairy sector is being tagged. “We are doing biometric identification of animals. We have named it – Pashu Adhar”, he said.
