Dehradun, Apr 20 (PTI) Livestock farmers in four border districts of Uttarakhand have earned Rs 2.6 crore in just five months by supplying meat and fish to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), officials said here on Sunday.

They said the ITBP battalions located in the border districts were dependent on big cities for the supply of mutton, chicken and fish till October 2024, but the Uttarakhand Animal Husbandry Department took an important step and got them directly connected with the local livestock farmers.

“In the first five months itself, 253 farmers of these districts have done business worth Rs 2.6 crore with the ITBP,” an official said.

The officials said that under this contract signed on October 30 last year, 253 farmers associated with 10 cooperative societies and farmer producer organisations of Pithoragarh, Chamoli, Uttarkashi and Champawat districts are supplying mutton, chicken and fish to the nearest battalion of ITBP.

“In the first five months of the scheme, these farmers have supplied a total of 79,530 kg (42,748 kg live sheep and goat, 29,407 kg chicken and 7,374 kg trout fish) to the ITBP and thus they have done a total business of Rs 2.6 crore with the ITBP,” they said.

Animal Husbandry Department Secretary Dr. BVRCC Purushottam said that under the scheme, farmers are being paid within 24 hours of supply of goods.

He said that for this the department has arranged for a revolving fund of Rs 5 crore. He said that the scheme is expected to supply 800 metric tonnes of mutton, chicken and fish annually to the ITBP, which will generate a turnover of about Rs 20 crore for the farmers and will bring a big change in their livelihood.

Narendra Prasad, a resident of Baralu village in Moonakot block in Pithoragarh district, who has been supplying chicken to the ITBP since January this year, said that he started poultry farming in 2022-23 under the Poultry Farming Scheme of Animal Husbandry and now he is supplying about 16 quintals of chicken per month, out of which he provides three quintals to the ITBP.

Expressing happiness over the positive results of the scheme, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said, “With the increase in the income of marginal farmers, migration from villages will also reduce and they will work with the ITBP to strengthen the country’s defense line. Along with this, fresh food items will also be supplied to the ITBP. PTI DPT NB NB