Agartala, Apr 17: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha has proposed to the Centre projects worth Rs 969 crore to make the northeastern state self-sufficient in the production of milk, eggs, fish and meat, a release issued by the CMO said.
Saha made the proposals during a virtual meeting of the DoNER Ministry’s High-Level Task Force on attaining self-sufficiency in milk, eggs, meat, and fish production in which chief ministers of the northeastern states and Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia took part on Wednesday.
Saha said milk production in Tripura in the 2023-24 fiscal was 2.47 lakh metric tonnes, while the demand was 2.82 lakh metric tonnes, reflecting a gap of 0.35 lakh metric tonnes.
“To achieve self-sufficiency in milk production, Tripura has adopted artificial insemination, both with conventional and sex-sorted semen techniques,” the statement said quoting Saha.
The CM sought the setting up of eight dairy farms, one in each district of the state, with a capacity of 200 cows each at a project cost of Rs 80 crore.
He also proposed a Rs 7-crore project for strengthening the Gomati Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd with the help of the National Dairy Development Board by setting up bulk milk cooling stations in each subdivision, along with a large-scale heifer introduction programme.
Saha said that the per capita availability of eggs in Tripura was 87 per person per year, the highest among the northeastern states, whereas the availability of eggs in other states of the region was 25 per person per year.
“This has been achieved by the Mukhya Mantri Prani Sampad Vikas Yojana by distributing around 3 lakh chicks per year over the last two years,” he said.
To boost this further, the chief minister proposed a Rs 15-crore project for establishing mini hatcheries run by farmers and SHGs and producer groups in each gram panchayat and village council, and another Rs 6-crore project for automation and improvement of the existing six poultry and duck farms run by the government.
On the meat sector, Saha proposed a Rs 17-crore project for the establishment of a meat production, processing, and packaging centre in the northeastern state.
“Since feed availability is a major limiting factor in the Northeast, an automated feed mixing plant for livestock, poultry, and fishery can be set up in Tripura at a project cost of Rs 30 crore,” the release quoted the CM as saying. (PTI)
