Good news for meat-lovers,soon they can relish the tender flesh of the sheep and goats found in the hills sitting in any part of the country. The credit goes to the Uttarakhand government for easy-availability of ‘Himalayan meat’.The govt. recently cleared funds of Rs 3,300 crore for the start out.
Trivendra Singh Rawat the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand said the move would be a “game changer” for the hill districts that has witnesses large-scale migration of locals due to limited income source. ‘Himalayan Meat, the name coined for branding, would help government enhance state’s agricultural and animal husbandry sector, said by an official.
The funds for this project has been released recently by The National Cooperative Development Corporation and a three-tier cooperative structure has been developed for this purpose, the official further added.
As per the plan, about 10,000 sheep and goat owners from the hill districts will help in acquiring high quality meat by grazing their cattle in the high altitude meadows. In the beginning, the meat will be introduced in local markets and afterwards, it will be provided in markets out of the state as per its demand
CM Rawat said”We are hopeful the agriculture and animal husbandry will witness surge in the next five years,”.He further added the focus will also be on promoting dairy, fisheries and meat industry.
The 2012 livestock census of Uttarakhand states, there were 3.68 lakh sheep and 13.6 lakh goats in the state. In 2014-15, farmers earned around Rs 38 lakh by selling 108 lakh kilograms of sheep and goat meat.
