At a meeting of the Standing Committee on Nature, Environment, Food and Agriculture, MPs discussed the proposed 2012 budget.

D.Baldan-Ochir said animal husbandry cooperatives in soums need funding from the state budget. He added that the establishment of such cooperatives is one of the main goals of animal husbandry development. If cooperatives are established in soums, he said, herders will be able to produce animal products and supply them to markets.

He said that between 13,000 and 14,000 herder families lost their animals during the harsh winter of 2009, which is why the cooperatives need to be funded by the state.

He also noted that the UN has declared 2012 the year of cooperative support, but the 2012 budget does not allocate enough money to establish cooperatives. He proposed increasing the amount of funding for cooperatives.