Chandigarh: With milk products worth about Rs 225 crore lying with Milkfed, it has requested Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to ask the Centre to allow it to export certain milk products, it is learnt. During the past few months, Milkfed prepared 6,000 tonnes of dry milk powder of which about 2,000 tonnes is surplus. “I have told the CM that milk plants in the state will suffer losses if denied the export of dry milk powder”, said Parminder Singh Chalaki, chairman of the Mohali milk plant.

Scientists at the National Research Centre on Mithun (NRCM) at Jharnapani in Nagaland have broken new grounds by carrying out a successful embryo transfer, leading to the birth of the first ever mithun calf through this method. Mohan, as the newly-born calf has been christened, was delivered by a healthy female mithun on May 12 after she played the role of a surrogate mother.

A Delhi court has directed the police to register an FIR against Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre (SGACC), which is run by BJP MP Maneka Gandhi. According to a complaint registered with the court, 36 animals died at the centre because its employees allegedly failed to perform their duties. “The SGACC is a welfare organisation, which takes care of the animals but from the above incident, it appears that the SGACC did not perform its duties and 36 animals died.

Members of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) agreed on Wednesday on cattle breeding rules, its first ever deal on livestock production.

The deal, approved by OIE's 178 members apart from South Africa, includes measures such as ensuring cattle beefs' health, breeding environment, genetic selection, Director General Bernard Vallat told reporters at the 80th General Assembly.

Reacting to the US government approaching the global trade body, WTO, against India imposing a ban on US agricultural products, including poultry meat and chicken eggs, the government clarified that it had already revoked the ban on imports from the US last September when it was declared free of avian influenza, a government official said. “We already removed the ban on poultry and poultry products imports from the US in September last year as it was declared free of avian influenza.

New Delhi: It’s a problem of plenty for dairy companies. Left with excess inventory of skimmed milk powder owing to the good monsoon in the last two years, dairy majors say growth will be hit this year, with most of them expecting lower profit margins compared to last year. India, which is the largest producer of milk in the world, currently has an excess of nearly 1.5 lakh tonnes of skimmed milk powder. Companies demand lifting of ban on exports of skimmed milk powder (SMP), which the government had imposed last year to tackle supply shortage.

Daily milk production in the state is seeing a surplus by 28 lakh litre, with drastic rise in contributions from the drought-hit talukas like Jat and Mann leading to a massive production of milk powder. Of the 1.13 crore lakh litres of milk being produced a day, 28 lakh litre is surplus.

Baramati: In a region where farmers either work in the fields or breed cows, milk production is the indicator for the impact of the drought on the latter section. Many dairy farmers in Baramati’s so-called dry zone have sold their cows in the absence of enough water to feed them but, because of the complexity of the equations involved, supply does not reflect whatever effect that has had on production.

Baramati is divided 40:60 between the green zone of agriculture and the dry zone where water is always short and where dairy farming is the primary source of livelihood.

Chandigarh: Like record wheat harvest, the production of milk, too, is unusually high this year. But that hasn’t brought smiles on the faces of dairy farmers who are reeling under the ban imposed on the export of skimmed milk powder. As a result, most private players in the industry are not ready to buy milk from dairy farmers. This, in turn, has burdened Milkfed, Punjab’s dairy cooperative, which can’t say no to milk procurement. The Milkfed and two other big companies have been forced to buy excess milk.

SHILLONG, May 10 – The Central Silk Board (CSB) and State Space Application Centres has taken up a project to extend the silk cultivation area in the State to meet the growing demand of silk in the country thereby provide employment in the rural areas of the State. The current demand for silk is 30,000 ton but the country produces about 23000 ton, according to the CSB. The board is trying to extend the cultivation of silk in non-traditional areas like Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, etc.