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Title : Need to provide loans to milk producers on easy rate of interest in the country.
SHRI N.S.V. CHITTHAN (DINDIGUL): Dairying provides livelihood to millions of Indian farmers and generates income and employment for a large number of families in rural as well as semi-urban areas with significantly greater participation of women. Dairy industry is the single largest contributor to India’s G.D.P. and with its profound social impact, involves over 80 million small farming households.
More than 40% of Indian farming households, about two thirds of which own less than 1 hectare of land are engaged in milk production as this is a livestock enterprise in which they can engage to improve their livelihoods.
The cost of milk production of rural landless farms is significantly higher than the production cost incurred by land-owning farms. This high cost results from the low annual milk yields, the very high labour input per litre produced and poor breeding performance. Without major improvements, rural landless dairy farms will, in the longer run, have difficulties competing with the large farm types.
The main risks of dairying identified by the farmers are not having lactating animal, the death of a lactating animal, and having to pay for straw, which is the main feed source. Occurrence of any of these events can lead to a reduction of the already low household income by 50 percent, and would probably force the family to abandon the dairy enterprise.
In order to manage the production risks faced by rural landless dairy farmers and to realize the potential of small-scale dairy production as a means to reduce poverty from productivity, it is necessary that mill producers should be given bank loan at lesser rate of interest so that they can boost milk production to sustain livelihood of their families particularly in rural areas.
I, therefore, request the Central Government to provide loans to Milk producers at lesser rate of interest to boost milk production in the country.