Panaji, Oct 10 (TNN): Goa Dairy should lower the price of milk by a rupee or two to attract higher sales and thereby aim at a higher turnover, chief minister Manohar Parrikar said on Wednesday.

Parrikar made the statement while responding to a starred question on the Kamdhenu scheme posed by Bicholim independent MLA Naresh Sawal.

Sawal said local farmers are not happy as cows purchased under the scheme do not give milk yields as promised at the time of purchase. He said farmers could have doctors accompanying them during the purchases to check the cows.

The chief minister replied that if there were better suppliers of cows, they were welcome because more suppliers would enable farmers to get better choice of cows. He said farmers cannot be forced to purchase cows that do not fulfill their requirements. Parrikar said that if legislators have any complaints in this regard, they can come to him and he will help sort out the issues.

Parrikar also said that there were almost 1,200 stray cattle on the roads all over Goa and about 450 cattle have been impounded by the government. Though the government maintained farms do not have much space left now to house the stray cattle, the government would continue removing stray cattle from the roads, he said.