On Tuesday, April 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a community radio station (CRS) dedicated to animal husbandry, Dudh Vani, during his Gujarat tour. The Banas Dairy Community Radio station, established by the Banaskantha District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union or Banas Dairy, would link nearly five lakh dairy producers in 1,700 communities across the state.
This will be the country's first community radio station dedicated only to cattle breeders.
Notably, the apex dairy development organization, the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), has launched a biweekly podcast series dedicated to dairy farmers in cooperation with All India Radio.
"This Community Radio Station has been established to offer farmers essential scientific information relevant to agriculture and animal husbandry," the Prime Minister's Office stated in a statement.
Prime Minister Modi will begin his three-day visit to Gujarat on Monday, April 18. Since March 11, he has paid two visits to his home state, which is in the midst of the election. On April 18, the Prime Minister will pay a visit Command and Control Centre for Schools in Gandhinagar. He will lay the foundation stone for several projects at the Banas Dairy complex in Diyodar Taluka, Banaskantha district, in North Gujarat, on Tuesday.
Potato Processing Plant
The Prime Minister will inaugurate a potato processing plant built at a cost of over 600 crores at the newly-commissioned greenfield dairy complex in Diyodar. The potato processing plant will make a variety of processed potato products, including french fries, potato chips, aloo Tikki, patties, and more, with many of them being exported to other nations.
"These plants will help local farmers and enhance the rural economy of the region," the PMO stated in a statement.
The dairy complex would have the capacity to process around 30 lakh liters of milk per day, as well as create 80 tonnes of butter, one lakh liters of ice cream, 20 tonnes of condensed milk (Khoya), and six tonnes of chocolate each day.
Gobar Gas Plants
The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for four 100-tonne gobar gas plants in Khimana, Ratanpura – Bhildi, Radhanpur, and Thawar, as well as an organic manure and biogas plant in Dama, Gujarat, and expanded facilities for the manufacturing of cheese products and whey powder at the Banas dairy plant in Palanpur.
Modi will also lay the foundation stone for the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar during his visit to Gujarat. The next day, he would visit a tribal community meeting in Dahod and open the Global AYUSH Investment & Innovation Summit in Gandhinagar.
