Team Herald
PONDA: Co-operation Minister Govind Gaude on Monday assured that in next three to four months, specific measures would be taken to improve Goa Dairy affairs, which will not only help the farmers, but also lead the dairy on the development path.
Gaude said he has set the Goa Dairy a target to sell one lakh litres per day by March 2020.
Stating that all stakeholders would be taken into confidence in the decision making process, the minister emphasised on improving the marketing of Goa Dairy milk.
Gaude said he had directed the management to procure milk to ensure Goa Dairy milk production is not hampered.
The minister informed that over the years Goa Dairy did not focus on increasing its milk sale and added that he had set them a target to sell 70000 litres per day. Currently, the sale has dropped to 53000 litres due to various reasons.
In the interest of farmers, Gaude said he had directed the management to hike the milk purchase rates from them by Rs 2 per litre, as the farmers are backbone of Goa Dairy and they should benefit due to their hard work.
When asked to comment on the complaint from farmers about the poor quality cattle feed supplied by Goa Dairy, Gaude assured to focus on improving cattle feed quality.
On the measures to be taken to meet the Goa milk requirement of around 3 lakh litres per day, the minister said he would try to bring out the best from the Goa Dairy.
Gaude said he recently took charge as Co-operation Minister and one cannot achieve a huge target at a time, but can progress step by step.
