By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 15 Dec: Secretary, Animal Husbandry, R Meenakshi Sundaram announced today that the Animal Husbandry Department is working to provide a market for organically prepared mutton and trout fish products.
Addressing a press conference, here, Sundaram said the department would hold a grand food festival of Mutton and Trout fish products in Dehradun on 17 and 18 December. Top ranked chefs from leading hotels would prepare various recipes from mutton and trout.
He said that, with the department’s help, fresh and organic goat and trout products prepared in the hills were being sold in the market and that the demand for the same is growing across the country. He reminded that these are being sold under the brand names ‘Bakraw’ and ‘Uttara Fish’, and that the festival is being organised to popularise these brands among Dehradun residents.
At this festival, chefs from star rated hotels of Dehradun and Mussoorie would prepare dishes from these products. There would also be a cookie making competition for Doonites in which prizes would be given to the first, second and third ranked performers. A cultural programme would also be organised at the Grand Food Festival in which singers Priyanka Meher and Pratuyal Joshi would perform.
Secretary Sundaram said that sheep and goat rearing was a traditional occupation in the hills of Uttarakhand. To promote this, the State Integrated Cooperative Development Project is making an important contribution. Goat-sheep rearing was started as a pilot project in Rudraprayag and Almora districts. Now, it has been extended to Pauri and Bageshwar districts. Under the scheme, 10 female goats and one male are being provided to sheep and goat farmers from the State Integrated Cooperative Development Project. Training is also being provided on how to rear the goats and sheep scientifically. And these goats are being sold in Dehradun, Chandigarh, Delhi and NCR. Due to this, the income of sheep and goat farmers had doubled in many cases.
Regarding Trout fish, Secretary Sundaram said there was a lot of demand for it. Trout is being sold under the brand ‘Uttara Fish’. He said the breeding of trout fish is done in clean, undisturbed water between 6 and 18 degrees Celsius temperature. The department has set up 28 clusters, which would be increased to 50 clusters by the next year.
Present on this occasion were Project Manager Sheep and Goat Husbandry Avneesh Anand, Project Manager, Fisheries, HK Purohit, General Manager, Marketing, Uttara Fish, Sushil Dimri and Deputy General Manager, Bakraw, Ajay Kumar Sharma.
