Guwahati, Jun 25 : It’s soon going to rain money for Kokrajhar farmers and juicy steaks for pork lovers.
A pilot project funded by the World Bank will identify 50 self-help groups in the district and assist them to set up piggeries. Each of these groups would be given 10 piglets and enough fodder for one year.
The joint director of animal husbandry and veterinary department, Mrinal Das, said this is the first project of its kind and a challenging task.“If we could make the project a success in two years, the World Bank will assist us in establishing a major piggery in the district with a capacity of over 100 pigs at a time,” Das said.
A pig farmers’ association will be formed to look after the farms. The project will begin in three months and first priority will be given to women self-help groups, he said.
A Kokrajhar-based NGO, Discovery Club, will assist the department in the project.
The animal husbandry department is also planning a massive scheme to grow fodder to meet the shortage of farm food in the state, the joint director said at a seminar-cum-workshop at the Kokrajhar Basic Training Centre.
“The state at present has a huge scarcity of fodder. There is a short fall of over 35 lakh tonnes of fodder in the state. So we are planning to launch a massive cultivation scheme to meet the shortage.”
The council head-cum-joint director of the department, P.C. Karmakar, said the two-day seminar-cum-workshop was organised to motivate field functionaries, to discuss opportunities in the field and upgrade technical knowledge regarding artificial insemination.
“Agriculture and animal husbandry is the single largest employer and the highest contributor to the Net Domestic Product, which is about 40 per cent, and animal husbandry alone contributes 80 per cent. This explains the importance of the animal husbandry in the economy of this (BTC) area,” Karmakar said.
“The department is extending services to a network of 58 state veterinary dispensaries, 53 veterinary sub-centres, 38 stock centres and three key village centres in the four districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri,” Karmakar said.
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