Daijiworld Media Network—Mangalore (TU/CN)

Mangalore, Nov 5: Dairy farmers from different parts of the undivided Dakshina Kannada district urged the state government to declare the coastal districts a dairy zone in order to enhance dairy farming, on Tuesday November 4.

The demand was made in the farmers conference held on the premises of the Dakshina Kannada Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union (DKMPU) Private Limited, Kulshekar. The conference was organized by the Dakshina Kannada Milk Producers’ Forum in association with Bharatiya Kisan Sangh and Sahakara Bharathi.

As many as 500 farmers turned up for the conference and put forth various demands. They also urged the government to fix a scientific price for the milk produced by dairy farmers, to constitute an experts committee with the involvement of dairy farmers and to provide them pension and insurance.

Addressing the farmers, Vigneshwara Murmudi, economics lecturer, Vivekananda College, Puttur, said the cattle population has been decreasing in the coastal districts. Over the past few years, the cattle population in Puttur, Sullia, and Belthangady taluks has declined by 13 per cent alongwith a 12.5 per cent decrease in quantity of dairy products, he said.

‘Dairy farming is on the verge of extinction owing to losses incurred. The production expenditure on every litre of milk is Rs 27 in the coastal districts. The present condition will lead us to be dependent on other districts for dairy products’ he opined.

The resolutions passed by the organizers were submitted to district-in-charge minister J Krishna Palemar and B Nagaraj Shetty, president, coastal development authority. Kaup Divakar Shetty, DKMPU president, B K Ramesh, secretary, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, P S Ramamohan, and Konkodi Padmanabha also spoke on the occasion.