In order to mark auspicious occasion of "World Milk Day" celebrations on Ist June 2022, Punjab Dairy Development Board organized a Seminar on " Empowerment of Women through Dairy Farming" on this day at Shri Guru Granth Sahib Bhawan, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. The celebration was a multi-faceted activity with the core idea of highlighting the importance of milk for the human health as well as the need to step up the policies and extension programmes connected with the promotion of dairy sector in Punjab. The focus was on highlighting the role of women dairy farmers in existing times with special reference to the State of Punjab. It was indeed a grand seminar in which S. Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Hon ble Cabinet Minister, Rural Development & Panchayats, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries & Dairy Development, NRI Affairs was the Chief Guest.
Delivering the inaugural address, the Hon ble Minister appreciated the move of the Dairy Development Department/Punjab Dairy Development Board to hold this seminar towards celebrations of World Milk Day as it would send valuable message to the dairy farmers and the dairy professionals in the State of Punjab to step up their interaction and initiatives to keep the state among the leading milk producing states and to maintain sustainability in quality milk production as well as promoting welfare of dairy farmers of the state. The Hon ble Minister also applauded the role of women dairy farmers of the State to generate direct as well as indirect employment and regular income through dairying for the marginal farmers of the State. He stated that the Punjab State is presently facing serious crisis in the Agriculture Sector due to two crop pattern as the people are growing wheat and rice from the last many years which has deteriorated the economic health of the farmers and seriously depleted the ground water level. He informed that under the able guidance of the Hon’ble Chief Minister, the Govt. has already launched a scheme for direct cropping of rice and promoting moong cropping in the State. In this backdrop, he laid stress that development of dairy profession through the marginal and women dairy farmers from the domestic level is the need of the hour because Agriculture creates seasonal income whereas dairying has the potential to provide whole year activity and income on routine basis for the dairy farmers. He stated that under the able guidance of the Hon’ble Chief Minister Punjab, the Govt. is committed to strengthen the marginal and women dairy farmers and many schemes and initiatives in this regard are already under active consideration of the Govt. He also applauded the women participants of having the initiative and willingness to carry forward the dairy as their living means and assured them any kind of help at the Govt. level to run their dairy farms.
Further, the eminent experts connected with the dairy industry such as experts from the Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar, Khalsa College of Vatenary and Animal Sciences Amritsar etc. while speaking on the occasion highlighted the various issues related to the milk industry like introduction of latest techniques and knowhow, value addition to make dairying viable, balanced animal diet for increased productivity, quality of milk and health, effective animal breeding, and animal disease control services clean milk production, milk safety and the steps required to boost the dairy farmers of the State professionally as well as financially with special focus on marginal as well as women dairy farmers to ensure further growth and sustainability of the dairy sector in the State of Punjab.
S. Kuldeep Singh, Director Dairy Development Punjab and Addl. Chief Executive Officer, Punjab Dairy Development Board extended warm and heartiest welcome to the Chief Guest, other dignitaries, technical speakers, all the participants/delegates, departmental functionaries and the member of the Press and Media. He highlighted the background of the World Milk Day, history of dairy activities and the pursuits of the dairy people to promote milk as an integral part of health and milk producer prosperity. He stated that valuable efforts have been rendered in the past towards the development of dairy sector in Punjab, but much needed to be done. The Punjab dairy sector has a huge potential and dairy profession in the State is quite capable of becoming a viable alternative and supportive profession for the farmers in the agriculture sector especially when the agriculture in the State has nearly touched the saturation level. Highlighting the nutritional goodness of milk, he urged the technical speakers and the dairy technocrats to take promotion of dairy and its sustainable development as the everlasting challenge and devote their valuable time and energy to achieve landmark success in this direction. While giving a brief account of the ongoing and the projected dairy schemes of the dairy development department, Punjab, he assured the Hon’ble Minister that the Dairy Development Department despite limited human resources is all time committed to implement the schemes and directions of the State Govt. and take the dairy sector in the State to further growth. He also appreciated the valuable support and cooperation extended by Milkfed Punjab and conveyed his gratitude for this gesture to the Managing Director, Milkfed.
