Cross-breeds boost milk production

Kulwinder Sandhu

Tribune News Service

Moga, January 7

Milk production in the state has increased from 260 lakh litres per day in 2013 to 272 lakh litres per day in 2014 due to the introduction of high-yielding cross-breeds of cows.

Inderjit Singh, Additional CEO of the Punjab Dairy Development Board (PDDB)-cum-Director of the Dairy Development Department, said milk production in the state had doubled during the last two decades from around 5.3 million tonnes in 1992-93 to 9.7 million tonnes in 2012-13. The state produces 7.3 per cent of the country’s total milk.

“Milk production has increased at an average of 3 per cent every year in the past two decades. But now we are expecting to achieve a growth of 4 per cent in the coming years,” he said.

He said that the total population of cattle also increased from 23,08,596 in 1992 to 24,27,714, as per the 2012 livestock census.

He said that the state had been importing progeny-tested semen, sourced from the best dairy farms in the world. “We have also developed a pedigree of the best bulls and have started selling their semen at a lower cost to the small and marginal farmers,” he said.

Inderjit Singh said the high-yielding breeds of cows would encourage progressive farmers to adopt dairy farming as an allied profession.

Dr Ram Chand, an eminent dairy scientist, who works as Livestock Extension Facilitator in the PDDB, said the board organised 609 dairy training camps in the past five months in rural areas.