FIRM GRIP: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy holding two Ongole-breed bulls at the inauguration of the Southern Regional Cattle and Buffalo Fair in Tirupati on Thursday. Minister for Animal Husbandry G. Surya Rao is also seen.

TIRUPATI: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy has said that Andhra Pradesh was trying to import cattle semen from Israel to take-up a massive cross-breeding programme with the twin objective of increasing milk production and improving the economic and social status of womenfolk by making them partners in the initiative.

Special drive

Dr. Reddy said that the Government had already taken up the matter with the Centre and added that negotiations in this regard were at an advanced stage. He underscored the need to pursue the programme as a special drive throughout the State in view of the fact that its cattle strength and milk yield per anum was at an abysmal level - 4,000 litres each on an average per annum against a whopping 11,000 yielded by a Danish breed and 13,000 by its Israeli counterpart. He said he was impressed with the Israeli breed during his visit to the country six months ago.

He was speaking after inaugurating the Southern Regional Cattle, Buffalo Fair and Milk Yield Competitions-2005, jointly being organised here by the Central and State governments. The Chief Minister also agreed with a farmer Krishnamurthy Naidu who, when given an opportunity to speak, regretted that a litre of milk produced by a farmer against all odds fetched him only Rs.7, while a litre bottle of mineral water fetched Rs. 12. It was true, especially in the semi-arid Chittoor district, where farmers depend a lot on dairying in the absence of any major river sources, Dr. Reddy said.

Crops diversification

In this context, he hinted at `market intervention' by the Government to provide a reasonable price of at least Rs. 9.

He also hinted at a massive state-wide programme to enrol the DWCRA women as partners which would offer a boost to the dairy industry and help rural women eke out their own livelihood.

However, he wanted the farmers to switch over to cross-breeding and crops diversification on a large scale, besides growing their own fodder fields. "As envisioned by our leader Sonia Gandhi, our Government is committed to provide a sheep and buffalo each to all the households in the state," he said.

In all, 300 bovines of 17 different breeds drawn from the four southern states and Pondicherry, besides Maharashtra, were on display at the sprawling expo-grounds on the Tirupati-Tiruchanur road. Other participants at the inaugural session were Ministers G. Surya Rao (Animal Husbandry) and N. Raghuveera Reddy (Agriculture), besides Joint Secretary GoI Neeraja Rajkumar.

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