Advisor to Lieutenant Governor K K Sharma today said dairy entrepreneurship has huge potential in Jammu and Kashmir. He was addressing a webinar hosted by Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) in collaboration with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
“There are some untapped niche markets in the dairy sector. There is a huge demand of Goat milk and its processing,” said Sharma. Dr R S Sodhi, Managing Director, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd., (AMUL) was the key speaker in the webinar. “The Indian food and dairy sector is valued at INR 40 lakh crores, out of which around INR 4 Lakh crores are from the organized sector and Jammu and Kashmir contribute to around 2- 3 per cent, ” said Dr Sodhi. He said that the entrepreneurs can opt for breeding of calves, establish cattle feed farms, establish artificial insemination facilities, provide logistic support and start milk processing units.
Director JKEDI, G.M Dar said Jammu & Kashmir produces 70 Lakh Litres of milk per day. He said Kashmir alone produces 40 Lakh Litre while Jammu produces 30 Lakh Litres per day. Director Industries, Kashmir, Mehmood Ahmed Shah stressed on the need of having milk chilling plants and expressed concerns for the lack of silage in J&K.
The webinar was also attended by Irfan Ahmed Guju, Chairman FICCI J&K, Farooq Ahmed Najar, HR & Admin Head, J&KMPCL (Milk Federation), Joint Director, Animal Husbandry Department and faculty members of JKEDI. The webinar ended with vote of thanks by Rajesh Kumar from FICCI.