Dharampur MLA vows boost to dairy, turmeric farmers

Marking the International Year of Cooperatives 2025, a grand conference was organised yesterday at the Public Works Department Rest House in Banehrdi, under the Dharampur subdivision of Mandi district. The event was hosted by the District Cooperative Union, Mandi, in collaboration with the Milk Producer Cooperative Societies of the Dharampur block under the state government’s ‘Him Ganga’ project.

Dharampur MLA Chander Shekhar presided as the chief guest, accompanied by the Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies, the Deputy Director of Animal Husbandry and other senior officials. Representatives from 14 newly formed cooperative societies from the Khala region actively participated in the conference.

MLA Chander Shekhar commended local cooperative societies for strengthening the rural dairy network, particularly the Jajar Society, which now supplies milk directly to the Chakkar Milk Federation in Mandi. Reflecting on the roots of India’s cooperative movement, he noted that it began in 1904 when a farmer from Una district challenged exploitative landlords, marking the birth of the cooperative spirit.

Highlighting the sector’s growth potential, the MLA said the Chakkar Milk Centre currently receives around 70,000 litres of milk daily, of which Dharampur contributes only 250 litres. The government, he added, plans to increase this twenty-fold. The minimum support price has been fixed at Rs 51 per litre for cow milk and Rs 61 per litre for buffalo milk.

He further revealed that a chilling plant established in Giyun in 2015 has remained idle, but efforts are underway to operationalise such units. Any cooperative achieving 150 litre per day will now receive a chilling plant in their village, along with transport assistance of Rs 3 per litre per kilometre.

In a major agricultural push, the MLA announced that the state will procure naturally grown turmeric at Rs 90 per kg.