KALPETTA:
Two months after the floods, Kerala Feeds today launched its programme of free 100 bags of cattle feed and 700 kg mineral mix to the benefit of dairy farmers whose business has been affected in the calamity.
The project, named ‘Snehasparsham’ (‘Touch of Love’), was inaugurated by the PSU’s Managing Director Dr B Sreekumar at a function in this town of the hill district that faced both deluge and landslides in August.
At the function in the District Cooperative Bank here, five farmers were handed over Kerala Feed’s Keramin — a mineral mix meant to improve reproductive efficiency in cattle. The rest 95 in the lot will get their share directly from the company this month.
The select milk farmers were identified by the state Dairy Development Department. At today’s function, two private benefactors gave a cow to a dairy farmer who lost his livestock in the August deluge. K V Chanthu of nearby Thariyod was handed over the cowfor which money was contributed by Bonny Thomas of Thiruvananthapuram and Sathya Raj of Palakkad.
Kerala Feeds’ Snehasparsham project is being carried out in seven district worst-affected by the floods, according to Dr Sreekumar. To be carried out in three phases, today’s function marked the start of the second phase. The first phase was completed last month when the PSU sold cattle feedbags with a discount of Rs 100.
Wayanad district panchayat president K B Naseema, speaking at the function, said the Snehasparsham programme will highly benefit Wayanad, given that the district has sizeable number of dairy farmers.
Dairy Development Department Deputy Director Joshy Joseph said dairy farming is a sector that can quickly get back to track with financial back-up. Kerala lost 5,000 cows in the recent floods, after which the state’s production of milk has dipped by 22,000 litres, he added.
Today’s function, which was organised by the Dairy Development Department in association with local cooperative societies, discussed rebuilding Wayanad’s dairy industry after the floods. Dr Sreekumar clarified the farmers’ doubts on distribution of cattle feeds.
Others who spoke at the function included Animal Husbandry Department Joint Director Meera Mohandas, Dairy Development Department (Kalpetta) Officer Harsha V S, Kerala Feeds AGM Usha Padmanabhan and the PSU’s Marketing Manager Jayachandran B.
