Guwahati: With a view to change the rural landscape of Assam through dairy farming, the Government of Assam and the National Council for Dairy Development (NDDB) on January 7 signed an MoU to build a joint venture for the overall development of the milk sector in the state at Srimanta Sankardev International Auditorium in Guwahati.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Minister Parashottam Rupala, and Minister of State Atul Bora on 7th January 2022.

Hon'ble Chief Minister of Assam Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, Hon'ble Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Shri Purushottam Rupala along with Hon'ble Minister of Agriculture, AHVD and Cooperation, Government of Assam Shri Atul Bora and Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Government of India, Shri Atul Chaturvedi extended the function. The MoU was signed by NDDB Chairman Shri Meenesh Shah and Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Cooperation, Government of Assam, Shri Maninder Singh.

Shri Tage Taki, Minister of Animal Husbandry, Veterinary and Dairying, Arunachal Pradesh, and Dr. K. Beichhua, Minister of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Mizoram were also present on the occasion. Several other senior government dignitaries, officials, concerned agencies, and dairy farmers were also present on the occasion.

The ambitious aim of this joint venture will be to create milk processing capacity to manage and add more than 10 lakh litres of milk per day in the state. The move will not only help more than 1.75 lakh farmers to increase their farm income but will also create huge employment at various levels of the dairy price chain. The joint venture will be responsible for setting up six milk processing projects across Assam, where milk from over 4100 dairy cooperative societies will be processed, packed, and sold.

Moreover, as part of this dairy development project, more than 15,000 high dairy farmers will be included in Assam to ensure greater benefits to the dairy farmers of Assam. The plan also envisages the setting up of infrastructure for the construction of cattle feed and silas within Assam.

With the support of the Government of India, the Government of Assam will ensure financial assistance and support for the planned intervention of this joint venture through the concerned departments under various government schemes. The joint venture will be conducted under the guidance, advice, and management of NDDB, where NDDB will also bring tested technical innovations like sex-equipped semen, ration sanitation programme, anthropological veterinary, fertilizer management project, etc. to Assam. The activities of the joint venture will be self-sustainable, were in the initial infrastructure cooperative sub-funded the development of milk production will be financially supported and supported under various schemes of the State and Central Governments.

The new move will boost the profits of local dairy farmers, which is prime minister Narendra Modi.

A step towards the vision of "doubling farmer income" envisaged. Speaking on the occasion, Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sharma said.

Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying Shri Parashottam Rupala said in his speech.

NDDB has been running West Assam Milk Producers Cooperative Association Limited since 2008 and Amul is currently standing as an exemplary model of a successful dairy cooperative. As a cooperative company, Amul has managed to change its operations under the management of NDDB.

Amul's current management and success have shown the importance of transparency and stability from buying milk - to direct payments to the producer's bank account and setting up of an expanding market, it has been reflected in every aspect. Over the years, Amul has been able to ensure a profitable market for its associated dairy farmers throughout the year besides providing quality-based value-added material to its esteemed customers. For all these factors, the union is able to get sales of about 73,000 litres of packaged liquid milk and milk products per day under its registered brand name "Purabi''.

Speaking on the occasion, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Assam Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma and Hon'ble Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairy Ingestion Shri Parashottam Rupala also unveiled the foundation stone of The Purabi Dairy Extension Project under the World Bank-funded Assam Agricultural Business and Rural Transport Project (APART). As part of the expansion project, the processing capacity of Purabi Dairy will be upgraded from the existing 60,000 litres per day to 1.5 lakh litres of milk per day.

The expansion of the factory at Punjabari in Guwahati will enable Purabi Dairy to increase the production capacity of existing products as well as introduce new products like indigenous sweets, ice cream, flavored milk, etc.

During the post-lunch session, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying Shri Parashottam Rupala presided over an interaction session with Ministers and Representatives, Government officials, entrepreneurs, and farmers from various states of the Northeast. The objective of the session was to create awareness and inform about the benefits of revised and realigned schemes of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India. It highlights various avenues to help farmers provide better livelihood and strengthen the rural economy and development of the North Eastern Region.