Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, in the first of-its-kind interaction with the milk producers of the state, said the government was encouraging agriculture as an industry to make the farmers self-reliant.

“Since agriculture and milk production plays a pivotal role in promoting rural economy, the state government is coming up with innovative schemes in the upcoming budget to increase the income of farmers which were likely to yield positive results in the next two years,” said the chief minister.

He said there is a direct relationship between agriculture and milk production. It becomes necessary to go for natural and organic farming in a big way, thereby linking traditional farming techniques with modern technologies.

“We intend to bring a revolutionary change in the agriculture sector with a special focus on promoting animal husbandry,” he said, adding an increase of six rupees in the milk purchase price is an indication of our future course of action to strengthen the dairy sector for assuring fixed income to the farmers.

Sukhu further informed that fundamental changes were being made in the policies and rules to ensure that money goes directly to the farmers.

The government will also consider giving tax concessions to the milk producers, he assured.

He said that the milk quality in the Himalayan region was far better and efforts were afoot for its marketing which would add to the income of farmers and make agriculture an employment-oriented industry besides taking measures to prevent them from exploitation while selling their produce in the open market.

These efforts will help in strengthening the rural economy, he said.

To strengthen the milk-based economy of the state, ‘Him Ganga Yojana’ has been started with a budget provision of Rs 500 crore.

“The process of land transfer for setting up the milk processing plant to cost Rs 226 crore with a capacity of 1 lakh 50 thousand liters per day to be established at Dhagwar in Kangra district, has been completed. It can be enhanced up to 3 lakh liters per day,” he said.

The unutilised land of the farmers will be used for setting up solar plants to strengthen the rural economy under the second phase of the Rajiv Gandhi Self-Employment Startup Scheme, he stated.

The chief minister also held extensive discussions with the farmers in an open dialogue session and assured to incorporate the suggestions received from the farmers and other stakeholders in its policy document.

The chief minister also visited the exhibition set up by MILKFED and interacted with the farmers.