The Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Department has made an ambitious perspective plan for the next decade with a plan proposal of more than 54 billion rupees (INR).

Express Buzz of India reports that, setting milestones for the department, Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Minister, Damodar Rout, said it has been targetted to double milk production from 1.5 million tonnes to three million tonnes in the next five years and take the production level to 4.8 million tonnes by 2020. The animal husbandry sector will create employment opportunities for more than half a million farmers in the State.

While the per-capita availability of milk in the State is 102g a day, the demand is likely to increase to 260g by 2020.

The department has also planned to increase meat production from 62,000 tonne to 110,000 tonnes a day and poultry meat output from 70,000 tonne to 100,000 tonnes per annum by 2020.

The per capita availability of meat in the State is 1.5kg. It has been targetted to increase egg production from four million to 40 million to 10 million a day during the same period.

The vision 2020 of the department is not only to achieve self-sufficiency in milk, egg and meat production but to become a surplus State in livestock productivity by providing sustainable livelihood to the poor. The mission is to make the department an engine of growth, the Minister said.

The department has planned to invest INR14.8 billion during next five years and total investment in the dairy, poultry and other livestock will be to the tune of INR22.5 billion by 2020.

Despite the threat of natural calamities, there is vast opportunity to upgrade livestock population through cross breeding in the intensive and potential dairy zones by ensuring integrated services. The State has adequate human resources of high technical competence and field institutions for service delivery. However, the Government has planned substantial investment in infrastructure development.

In the fisheries sector, the government has planned to invest INR18.4 billion in the next five years and the projected investment by 2020 will be INR32 billion as against plan outlay of INR2.73 billion including INR700 million of Central assistance for the current plan period.

With fishermen population of 1.1 million, the total fish production of the State is 374,000 tonnes. The department has targeted to increase the fresh water fish production from the current level of 213,000 tonnes to 720,000 tonnes by 2020.

According to Express Buzz, the Minister and senior officers of the department today made a presentation of the perspective plan on fisheries and animal resources to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who approved the plan. The plan will be submitted to the Planning Commission.