Expanding its bouquet, Orissa State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation (Omfed) on Wednesday announced launch of a slew of milk-based products such as dairy whitener, peda, khoya and bread.
The products were unveiled by Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Minister Pradeep Maharathy at the district agriculture fair organised by Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) at Satasankha in Puri district.
The dairy whitener will be available in 50 gm, 200 gm and 500 gm and one kg pack while khoya would come in 200 gm, 500 gm, one kg and five kg packs. Peda will be available in 100 gm, 200 gm, 300 gm and 400 gm pack. Omfed Bread will cover all three variants such as white, milky and brown
The milk producer had launched Rasagola and Gulab Jamun last year and been able to record a sale of 13 tonnes within a couple of months. Currently, they are being marketed in Sambalpur, Dhenkanal, Bhawanipatna, Balangir, Jeypore, Rourkela, Balasore, Ganjam, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.
Dairy Products
The dairy whitener, peda, khoya and bread will also be available soon throughout the State.
“These new products are of good quality and served to consumers at very competitive prices. The surplus milk of farmers is being be utilised for these products. Expansion of offerings will encourage farmers to produce more milk to earn more,” Secretary, FARD and Omfed managing director Bishnupada Sethi said.
Union Agriculture Minister Shri Radha Mohan Singh inaugurated Kalki Bhawan and Narmada Hostel of National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana. In his address Minister said that “India stands first on global milk product scenario. Milk product has been increased from 137.68 million tonne in 2013-14 to 146.31 million tonne in 2014-15. For the first time there is a record enhancement of milk production as 6.3 per cent whereas on international scenario there is only an increment of 2.2 percent enhancement of milk production”.
Singh said that “another important point to ponder is that despite increase in total milk production in the country, milk productivity per animal is far less than the average in developed dairy nations. Therefore, there is a need to focus on implementing technologies which result in enhanced milk production per animal”.
Full text of Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister is as follows:
“I am glad to say that the science and technology led development in agriculture has resulted in many fold enhancement in productivity and production of different crops and commodities to match the pace of growth in food demand. The contribution of different institutes of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Agricultural Universities, Krishi Vigyan Kendra and other associated units is highly commendable. Today, we have transformed from a food deficit to a food surplus country.
In this changing scenario of Indian agriculture sector we still need to do a lot continuously. There are several challenges in agriculture we have to meet such as reducing availability of quality water, nutrient deficiency in soils, climate change, farm energy availability, loss of biodiversity, emergence of new pests and diseases, fragmentation of farms, rural-urban migration, coupled with new Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and trade regulations.
The seed-water-fertilizer technology that brought about growth in agriculture also had its negative externalities to deal with. Increased fertilizer use that was essential for increasing the yield levels has begun to create soil problems due to unbalanced use of fertilizers. The paddy-wheat crop rotation annually removes more than 800kg/ha of nitrogen, phosphorus oxide and potassium oxide. Also, it takes a heavy toll on the micronutrient availability in the soil, such as zinc, iron, manganese and copper. Deterioration in soil health is not only manifested in stagnating crop yields, but poor plant health also has adverse health effect for human and livestock. The deficiency of minerals in the body makes them more susceptible to a number of diseases and disorders.
Dairy cattle
Keeping this vision in view, the Government has launched the Soil Health Card Scheme. Today, India is keeping fast track on economic development. We do hope that by 2050 India will be treated as one the top developed country out of three. Under Soil Health Card Scheme all the farmers of the country will be given soil health card by 2017. The farmers are required to be aware about the method how to get their soil specimen registered and how to benefit from this scheme.
Our Government has launched Parampragat Krishi Vikas Yojana for the first time so as to promote organic farming. During 2015-16 a sum of Rs. 300 crore had been allocated that 8000 clusters have been formulated as yet.
Agriculture has been as a backbone for Indian culture since centaury. Resulting in a significant role in the perspective of national growth products and creation of employment related to agronomic field. With confidence I say that the importance of agriculture will continue also in the years to come.
India has vast network of institutions for imparting higher education in various agriculture and allied disciplines. The projections indicate that by 2020, there would be annual demand of over 40,000 graduates, 10500 post graduates and 2800 doctoral degree holders in agricultural and animal sciences. To fill up the gap related to the scarcity of veterinary doctors the strength of veterinary colleges have been increased from 36 to 40 and strength of the students pertained to this faculty has been enhanced from 60 to 100. The strength of the seats has been increased from 914 to 1332 in17 veterinary colleges. The PG course in veterinary course has reached the mark of one and half more. The number of seats also multiply as one and half times more in veterinary colleges. Your are supposed to adopt sophisticated agricultural arena as profession and to divert it as one of the best professions oriented with your innovative knowledge and thought. In this respect, ICAR has also taken several initiatives like Student REDDY, ARYA (Attracting and retaining youth in Agin) etc. We are required to improve the quality of education agricultural education and not to enhance the figures only in the field concerned and we are supposed to achieve knowledge with a particular emphasis on agricultural enterprise.
The Hon’ble PM has conceptualised the scheme of “Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav” to take the technologies developed by the scientists in the field and make the villages a practical learning laboratory for the scientists. There are about 20000 scientists in the agriculture sector who will go the villages and directly work for the development of the villages especially disseminating agriculture knowledge to them. The KVK and the ATMA centres are engaged in extension but without a close nexus between the scientist extension workers and farmers the overall development of agriculture in the village is not possible.
Dairy play an important role in agriculture domain of the country with the 3.9 per cent contribution to the national gross product. It is not only a substantial source of livelihood but also most credible basis to ensure the national food requirement. It is the repercussion of the growth in dairying that the growth rate of agricultural sector has been 4 per cent unabatedly. The possibilities of future many phased that the growth rate in agriculture will remain only two per cent. The growth related to fruits and vegetables, livestock and dairy, poultry as well as fisheries will expeditiously to the mark of 5-6 per cent. It will be an extremely important contribution in the economic development of India. India stands first on global milk product scenario. Milk product has been increased from 137.68 million tonne in 2013-14 to 146.31 million tone in 2014-15. For the first time there is a record enhancement of milk production as 6.3 per cent whereas on international scenario there is only an increment of 2.2 percent enhancement of milk production.
In its journey to the top position in the world in terms of milk production, the sector has witnessed several structural changes in production, processing and consumption that have been conditioned by the changing socio-economic conditions in the country. Today we have been able to provide on an average 302 gm per person per day milk in the country which is more than the minimum required recommended by the WHO.
Keeping in mind the national requirement for augmenting milk production development programmes focussed on promoting cross breeding of dairy cows. This resulted in neglect of our indigenous cattle breeds. It is time now that programmes focussing on improvement in productivity of indigenous cattle is developed and implemented intensively.
A new initiative as National Gokul Mission has been launched for the preservation and promotion of indigenous breeded cows under national bovine genetic and dairy development programme for the first time in the country. A sum of Rs. 45 crore had been earmarked for the year 2013-14 whereas a sum of Rs. 550 crore has been released for 29 proposals from 27 states by December, 2015. To new national Kambhenu Breding Centres are being set up (each one in north and south India respectively).
Another important point to ponder is that despite increase in total milk production in the country, milk productivity per animal is far less than the average in developed dairy nations. Therefore, there is a need to focus on implementing technologies which result in enhanced milk production per animal.
In India, there are wide variations in profitability at the regional level on one hand, and across small-holder vis-a-vis commercial level on the other. The net returns on investment range from 15-30% on commercial dairy herds in dynamic milk regions, while profit margins on small-holder farms are below 10% in several regions. This would help in attracting the rural youths in adapting dairying as a profession.
The consumption of milk and milk products has increased in both rural and urban food baskets. In the past decades, there has been an increase in the consumption of milk and milk products in rural and urban areas by 29 and 26%, respectively. The consumer preferences in India are diversifying towards high value added dairy products such as dairy beverages, fermented milk products, western dairy products, functional dairy products, and packaged traditional dairy products. Market growth rate for some of these products is in the range of 15-20%. Keeping in view possibilities and trends, it is important that we found newer wage and means and technologies for processing into different dairy products.
I not only hope but believe that our institution of agricultural research and education would not only attain highest levels of excellence in development of technologies and competent human resources to effectively deal with new challenges in the changing scenario”
Protesting the proposed hike in milk price by private dairy farms (which is set to come to effect from tomorrow), milk dealers have sought the intervention of the Tamilnadu government.
Tamilnadu Milk Dealers Welfare Association president S A Ponnuswamy told ‘News Today’, “Tamilnadu’s leading private milk production company, Hatsun (which owns Arokya brand), is planning to raise milk price by about Rs 2-5 in every variety of milk. The sudden increase in rates will force other private dairies also to follow the suit. But the saddest thing about this is that milk procurement price has not increased. While the input cost of private dairies has not gone up and fuel prices are seeing a dip, there is no need for a price hike.”
Explaining the market situation, he says, “Dealers and producers believe that private dairies are trying to monopolise the milk market. So, we urge the State government to intervene in the issue. In order to safeguard the livelihood of milk dealers, we request the government to fix the price of milk along the lines of bus and auto fares. The price must be fixed by a four-member committee consisting of representatives from the government, milk dealers/producers, private dairies and people’s representative. Apart from this, we are planning to file a petition in court to solve the issue legally.”
Aavin Milk Dairy
ADVANTAGE AAVIN
While Hatsun Agro is planning to increase its price in various categories, Tamilnadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation (Aavin) has not increased its price and this might work to its advantage. While Hatsun is planning to increase the price of a litre of full cream milk from Rs 48 to Rs 50, Aavin will be selling it for Rs 45, and it will sell a litre of standardised milk for Rs 41, even as Hatsun will hike its price from Rs 44 to Rs 46.
After the recent increase in the procurement price of milk, Aavin Madurai has achieved a record of receiving a whopping 2.9 lakh litres of milk per day. The Madurai District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union received just 1.54 lakh litres during the same time last year. The overwhelming support by milk producers was due to the enhancement of the procurement price of milk by Rs 5 per litre, which the state government had announced in November 2014. Credit also goes to the officials who took efforts in reaching out to the milk producers and made them turn towards the cooperative. The state-wide procurement also touched a robust mark of 30 litres a day for the first time. Officials said the increase in milk procurement was already expected since many producers started giving milk to the government subsidiary. However, they did not expect to achieve this feat so early. “During the same time last year the union received just 1.54 lakh litres a day.
Aavin products
Government had increased the procurement price by Rs 5 from November, 2014. At present the procurement price is Rs 28,” said S Christy, revenue divisional officer and general manager, Aavin Madurai. Officials said the milk received is first sold to customers and the remaining is used for various milk-based products including ghee, sweets and ice creams. Milk to the tune of 1.6 lakh litres are sold to the public through the 952 parlours in Madurai and Theni districts. The increase in milk procurement was also due to the result of government beneficiary measures such as fodder at subsidized price. Officials said that they are also planning to increase the milk sales for which they are seeking dealers. Anyone who can spend a couple of hours in the morning can become an agent by paying just Rs 1,000. The dealers will get Rs 2 for every one litre of milk they sell. However, the success in the milk sales has not reflected in ghee, one of Aavin’s premium products, which has left the officials concerned. Officials said that the price of ghee has been slashed by 30% for all quantities and consumers can make use of this opportunity as the pricing is less when compared to the market price of ghee from other private players.
News that was highlighted in Goa, last week, was the launch of SUMUL dairy operations in four talukas in the state. SUMUL or Surat District Co-operative Milk Producers Union is a member of Amul- the largest milk co-operative of Asia. Its products are sold under the Amul brand name and are freely available. Sales are through smart Amul retail outlets that are rapidly springing up in different localities.
Launch of dairy operations is big-time progress for SUMUL. It means a step towards forward integration and more money to the Surat based co-operative. It also indicates the opening of our dairy sector to an outside player who will be interacting with local farmers and procuring raw milk from them. The next few years therefore look interesting for dairy industry and who knows perhaps a jump in output that is if SUMUL succeeds in upping production.
Goa’s milk production for sure needs to spurt. The presence of robust tourism and outside population means that consumption is increasing by the day and there is a huge demand-supply mismatch. While aggregate milk production from the village dairy societies and private farms is about 1.50 lakh litre per day, demand is around 4 lakh litre per day. It is a demand-supply gap of about 2.50 lakh litre per day currently. In future the gap is expected to widen as consumption will continue to increase.
Small size of dairy farms, non-availability of quality fodder and general disinclination towards agriculture related activities are some of the problems of local milk production. But farmers concede that while agriculture is a non-remunerative activity, keeping dairy animals is profitable business. The profit margin for a properly run dairy farm with 10-12 animals and supply of own fodder is about 30 per cent. Handsome profits and generous government incentives is the reason why many crop cultivators are interested in keeping cows these days, say farmers.
Ground level check reveals that village societies that supply milk to Goa Dairy have several grievances to make against the co-operative. Common grievance is of indifferent quality of fodder and of overall mismanagement of operations. Another complaint is of low price for high fat content milk. Farmers say that Goa’s Dairy’s low rate is disincentive to high fat milk output and cause of their selling to hotels and private purchases. The Dairy is charged with the lack of professional push due to which the number of co-operatives with Goa Dairy is stagnant, according to farmers. For the last two the co-operatives registered with Goa Dairy are stuck at 175. Its cattle feed plant is running at a loss and managing board members have no connection with dairy activities, allege farmers.
Sumul Dairy
At present Goa Dairy procures about 70,000 litres per day and processes 90,000 litres of milk per day after purchasing 20,000 litres per from the numerous milk societies. It is a quantity that is peaked, according to experts in the field.
Meanwhile among the farmer community the reaction to SUMUL entry is mixed. Farmer Shivanand Bhakre, Sanquelim says that he is waiting for the day when the dairy will come to Bicholim taluka. It will be soon he is certain. Farmers will be really happy to supply to the new player because of better price of milk and cheaper fodder. The inability of Goa Dairy in managing its affairs properly deserves competition, says Bhakre.
Farmer Babu Narari Komarpant, former president, Akhil Gomantak Dudh Utpadak Utkarsh Sanghatana, Canacona, is confused. Nobody is approached us yet and without knowing terms and facilities we do not know whether an unknown dairy is good, he says. The Sanghtana produces about 600 litres of milk and is one of the six societies of Canacona taluka that is in good health. Our 30 year association with Goa Dairy is too strong to make a sudden switch to some other dairy, points out Komarpant. He is also unhappy that nobody consults farmers while making decisions that affect their future.
On the other hand progressive farmer Joseph D’Souza, chairman, D’Souza Biotech has pertinent points to make. Political interference is root cause of Goa Dairy’s problem, says D’Souza. It should have been reined in, he says. D’Souza who is a resident of Saligao reveals that group of farmers from his locality wanted to start a milk co-operative for which they had approached Goa Dairy. Permission to start was held up by the local MLA and the Dairy was helpless in allowing the formation of the co-operative. D’souza adds that it is too early to predict the success of SUMUL although it is good on two crucial counts, viz. higher rate for raw milk and cheaper fodder.
Other dairy farmers point out that with SUMUL could offer stiff competition to Goa Dairy at the retail level because its two brands of milk are cheaper by about Rs two compared to Goa Dairy’s Shakti and Gold brands which sell at Rs 40 per litre and Rs 48 per litre respectively. The fat content of Amul milk however is little lower than Goa Dairy in both the brands.
At a time when the country’s agriculture sector is facing a severe crisis, the dairy sector has survived the slowdown and witnessed positive changes, said Minister for Rural Development K C Joseph here on Sunday.
Speaking after inaugurating the refurbished dairy processing unit of Milma at Edappally here on Sunday, the Minister said, “when the UDF Government came into power five years ago, Kerala was dependant on the other states to overcome the 7.5-lakh-litre milk deficiency. Now, we procure only 1.5 lakh litre of milk from the neighbouring states, which shows that we are moving towards self- sufficiency. Kerala’s dairy sector recorded the biggest annual growth in the country.”
Milma Parlour
“Meanwhile, prices of diary products increased only three times during the tenure of the current government, and dairy farmers were the beneficiaries of the price hike. Last year, the State’s dairy sector witnessed a 34 per cent growth. We hope that the State would produce as much milk as it requires by 2016-end,” said the Minister, adding that the pension of dairy farmers was hiked to Rs 300 from Rs 100 three years ago. We will submit a recommendation to the Chief Minister to raise the pension to Rs 1,000/month,” he added. Meanwhile, National Diary Development Board chairman T Nandakumar said that farmers should concentrate more on value-added products for the diary sector to register bigger growth. “It is necessary to convert at least 25 per cent of the milk produced here into value-added products. Milma should continue as an organisation functioning under diary farmers,” he added. Banana Jaggery icecream, one of the new products launched by Milma, was unveiled on the occasion. A new icecream parlour was opened at the revamped plant.
Dairy Development Director K T Sarojini, Kalamassery municipal chairperson Jessy Peter and Milma, Thiruvananthapuram unit, chairman Kallada Ramesh, among others, also attended the function.
Jayesh Desai, managing director, SUMUL was in Goa for an eight day visit recently with his team comprising of officials, veterinary doctors and workers. The team was busy with visiting villages and trying to assess supply. Here he talks of future operations in the four talukas of Sanguem, Canacona, Sattari and Quepem where SUMUL will procure milk and plans to expand operations to other talukas in future. Desai is a dairy technologist and in the co-operative field for about 35 years. SUMUL will co-exist with Goa Dairy, he says Q: How do you assess your prospects for increasing business in Goa?
I am surprised at the turmoil in the media and dairy community about our entry. It is the reason why I extended my stay from three to eight days. Local resistance is experienced by us in other states wherever we have made first time entry. But it tapers off when dairy farmers work with us and see our transparent manner of functioning. Our rate chart for purchase of raw milk of varying grade, charges for fodder, vet services are there for everybody to see. When SUMUL started marketing milk and milk-based products in Goa, in September 2013, our sale was 8,000 litre per day. Currently it is 30,000 litre per day and growing. I want to stress that although our market is increased the share of Goa Dairy in the total market is not reduced. We have grown at the cost of private players and plan to co-exist with Goa Dairy. We expect to procure milk from at least 40-50 farmers in the talukas where we have received permission to operate.
Q: How do you assess the Goan dairy farmer’s attitude to you and your modern milk production methods?
We found local farmers fearful as they are afraid that we will go away and they will be left high and dry. We are here to stay. We also found farmers keen to learn and interested in the infrastructure that we offer. They want to increase their earnings and that is good sign. They are also happy about the bulk coolers that will be run by women SHGs.
Q: What is your opinion on Goa’s dairy activities?
The Goa government gives lot of incentives for dairy sector. There is incentive for purchase of animal, for milking machine, chaff cutters. No other state with the exception of perhaps Karnataka gives as much as incentives that Goa does. However compared to the incentives milk production is not made a significant improvement. We hope to change that.
Sumul Dairy Products
Q: How much of investment will you be making in the state?
We will be spending Rs 50 lakh initially for five bulk coolers in five collection centres.. Gradually we will be increasing investment depending on response.
Q: What about quality of SUMUL milk?
The quality of milk everywhere is determined by fat and protein content. It is also determined by purity and no adulteration. Our procurement and process systems are so strong that no adulteration takes place.
Q: What is your outlook for milk price increasing in India?
I see no major price increase for at least a year or two. Due to the success story of our co-operatives production is surged in India and currently we are the number one producer in the world. India is also the world’s largest milk consumer with a small demand supply gap of about two per cent.
Dinshaw’s Dairy Foods Ltd was started in 1933 as a small dairy business. Later it focussed on other dairy products including ice cream. Today, the company has presence in many Indian states. In an email interaction with Anurag More, Zervin Rana, executive director, Dinshaw’s Dairy Foods Ltd, spoke about the company in particular and Indian dairy industry in general. Excerpts:
At what rate is the Indian dairy industry expected to grow by 2020?
Some 11-15 per cent is achievable. With availability of milk improving at 4-6 per cent per year, growth in terms on volume and value is possible.
How will increase in import duty on dairy products affect the domestic market?
For India, dairy exports is 95 per cent SMP only. It will only safeguard interest of bulk SMP manufacturers and sellers. It will also help in keeping raw milk prices stable. However, government should be flexible in changing import duties and maintain fund circulation to keep the prices in check. It’s not good to see profitability get affected on cyclic basis. Consistency is the key. Only then, the dairy industry will grow and flourish.
What are the driving factors for the growth of the sector?
Value-added products like yogurts, flavoured milk etc. in tier II and III towns.
What are the barriers for the growth of the industry?
1. Product innovation is slow. 2. Quality cold chain storing facility in general stores will be critical factors that slow down growth. 3. If raw milk prices are stable, growth becomes long term.
What is the consumption pattern in India?
On an average 300gm/ day would be overall consumption rate. This should increase with deeper penetration in tier II and III towns. Value-added products like dahi and paneer, still have a long way to go.
Tell us about products offered by Dinshaw’s.
Ice cream, packaged milk, paneer, butter, shrikhand, dahi, ghee and SMP. Bakery products have also been launched.
Dinshaw’s Product
Tell us about your expansion plans.
Another 1 lakh lit per day ice cream plant will be set up in Western Maharashtra in the next two years.
How much will you be raising for the same?
Rs 60-70 crore.
Any plans to launch any new products?
Frozen yogurt and frozen bakery products (R&D going on).
A Press Conference was held at Sikkim Co-operative Milk Producers Union Ltd. today addressed by Managing Director of the Union Shri Kapil Meena, IAS.
During the press conference the Managing Director of the Sikkim Co-operative Milk Producers Union Ltd informed that the Milk Union is functioning efficiently & is all set to post healthy profits with a significant rise in the annual turnover of the organisation as continued from past few years. For the current financial year 2015-16 the annual turnover is expected to cross the milestone of 50 crore rupees mark.
While informing about the significant achievement in the current financial year he said that there has been the tremendous increase in the procurement of milk from more than 300 milk collection societies located in the east, south & west district of Sikkim. With this the marketing/sales of milk & all milk products has also shown higher increase than previous years & a healthy position is being maintained between the total procurement & the marketing. As compared to the annual procurement of 59.84 lakh kgs of milk in 2014-15 the procurement figures for 2015-16 till January this year has already crossed level of 79 lakh kgs showing an increase of 45% within first 10 months of this year. In the last 2 months there has been increased focus on opening new milk collection societies with all the required facilities resulting in more than 15 new societies being started & the daily procurement of milk has reached levels of 32000 kgs per day during these 2 months. Similarly, there has been increase in total sales to the levels of 34000 kgs & the total amounting to 80 lakh kgs already till January 2016.
He highlighted on the Gangtok dairy plant which has been ISO certified already under ISO 2000:2005 since December 2014 & now the future plans are to get the Jorethang plant too ISO certified within a limited time frame. Recently a visit was also made by the Hon’ble Minister of State, Agriculture Government of India to the head office during the Sikkim Organic festival who applauded the efforts made by the Union in the dairy sector & assured of extending all possible assistance to the nion. All necessary activities are being carried out in Gangtok dairy plant to qualify for continuous audits under ISO certification. It is proposed that on lines of the ISO certification of Gangtok dairy plant, similar initiative to be taken for ISO certification of the Jorethang dairy plant too in the coming financial year leading to a complete certification of the organisation. New packaging films are being introduced for most of the products as per the ISO Specifications, new launches of 500 ml HCM packaging, 500 gm Paneer & 500 gm Butter to be launched very soon. New product launches like Flavoured milk, Lassi etc. are in the pipeline, he added.
Shri Meena further said that there is also a focussed plan by the management to improve the efficiency of operations in the organisation so that the cost of production is reduced & there is an optimum utilization of the existing resources. Concerted efforts are being made to consolidate the progress achieved in past few years so as to sustainably maintain the growth achieved & to make further innovations to take the organisation to new heights. Some of the new initiatives taken & planned in near future are better procurement mechanism is being developed in the way of monitoring, ensuring accountability of equipments provided to the milk collection societies & developing a professional mechanism of society working. Regular trainings are being provided to the societies staff & members, Cattle loans under DEDS programme of Government of India is being implemented by the Milk Union & SISCO successfully wherein lot of enthusiasm has been shown by the local farmers. Already loans to the tune of 1.57 crore rupees have been disbursed & a number of applications are in process of approval. Unit price being received by the dairy farmers has shown increase from an average of Rs. 28.23 per kg in previous year to approximately Rs. 31.70 per kg. in the current year.
Sikkim Milk Union
New rounds of training has been proposed & finalized for farmers wherein 30 batches will be sent for training at NDDB regional centre, Matigara, Siliguri in next month. It has been decided to come up with a unique Brand name for the milk & milk products of the Union on lines of other successful dairy federation of the country. This will help in future to attain a unique identity & status in domestic as well as international markets especially in light of the State Organic Mission for which a contest is being organised for inviting suitable names for our brand using their creativity. Best names proposed will be given
cash prize & certificate by the Union.
For the better identification & consumer awareness recently uniform & standard sale outlet boards have been made & distributed to all the selling agents of our milk & milk products which will lead to easy identification of selling points by the general public. First time two suggestions cum complaint boxes have been installed at Tadong head office with one for employees & other for general public to receive suggestions/grievances from all stakeholders. Besides designation of marketing number as the customer care; website, email etc. are already available for any suggestions/feedback from consumers. A facebook page by name of Sikkim Milk Union Gangtok has been developed wherein all updates can be seen & feedback can be provided. Army supplies to 11 different Army units spread over Sikkim & north Bengal area is being continuously ensured upto the satisfaction of army standards.
Additionally, new sale outlets are being started in the Army market areas to sell milk as well as products with an outlet started at Sukna Army Core office premises since 1st February 2016.
A lot of steps have been initiated to cut down on costs in the plant, disaster management plan as well as plan for introducing a dress code/uniform for the workers on lines of professional production organisations. It is planned to strengthen the security of the campuses by erecting proper fencing around the head office complex & also replacing the damaged CCTV cameras. It is proposed to have enough CCTV coverage in both the plants to prevent any pilferage & wrong activities.
An exercise of exact cost calculations for all the various products manufactured is being initiated in the organisation so as to take all decisions of revision of procurement prices, selling prices, agents margin etc. on scientific basis. Better coordination with all the related Government Departments, Government and Non-Government Agencies for the betterment of dairy farming is being ensured, cowsheds being constructed on mass scale under MGNREGA etc. There hasn’t been any scientific manpower management policy till now in the organisation & this issue has been identified to be taken up on priority in the days to come. Planning is also being made to develop a fully computerised tracking/monitoring system with all digitized records, GPS Tracking systems in all vehicles, to carry out CSR activities, Bio gas plants installation, improving energy efficiency etc. he added.
Efforts are being made to move towards the goal of certification of Organic milk in near future & its effective branding as per direction of Hon’ble Chief Minister and to explore & open new marketing opportunities for our products in the open markets outside the State & in various other organisations under the guidance of National Cooperative Federation of India.
Attendance, punctuality, transparency and accountability of all inputs to farmers etc. as per the directions of Hon’ble Chief Minister in recent meeting are being strictly followed, the Managing Director informed.
Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) is scouting for investors to drive its six projects via public-private partnership (PPP) for which the land is already available. These include development of automated milk conversion plants, mega cattle feed manufacturing units, blown film plants, manufacture of corrugated boxes and construction of 2,000 metric tonne of cold chain storage facility and production unit for health drinks and ready-to-eat foods at a total investment cost of Rs 1,880 crore.
According to G Latha Krishna Rau, additional chief secretary and development commissioner, Government of Karnataka, efforts to give a fillip to agri infrastructure and dairy infrastructure are the focus areas at the three-day Invest Karnataka 2016 summit being held here. Now KMF has evinced interest in identifying the right partner to pursue its projects.
The total investment outlay is Rs 650 crore for the state-of-the-art Automated Milk Conversion Plants. It will include two milk powder plants each 100 MT capacity per day and processing facility for manufacturing of whole milk powder, skimmed milk powder, dairy whitener and so on with retail packaging of products. Each facility cost per plant will be Rs 325 crore. The project is proposed to be implemented at Doddaballapur or Dobaspete in first phase and Dharwad district in second phase.
For the fully automated mega cattle feed manufacturing plants, KMF stated that it would have a capacity of 500 MT per day for each plant. The project is proposed to be implemented under a PPP model at three locations. These are Vijayapura, Davanagere and Chikkaballapur/Mandya.
Nandini Milk
“We envisage the total cost of the project to be Rs 600 crore,” said Rajesh Singh, managing director, KMF, at the summit.
The federation is also looking for the development of blown film plants for manufacturing pouches. These films are used in packaging of milk in poly pouches flexi pouches and so on of capacity 500 MT per month for each plant in a phased manner. The project is proposed to be implemented at two locations in Bidadi, Ramanagar district, at a total cost of Rs 120 crore. Now at the same location, the company is also looking at manufacture of corrugated boxes. The plant will have a capacity of 1,500 million tonne per month. The federation has envisaged the total project cost to be Rs 50 crore.
The project for cold chain facility of 2,000 MT storage both at 40C and at -250C including mobile cold chain facilities like trucks and vans, needs to be implemented at two locations and in two phases. These are Hesarghatta in Bengaluru for the first phase and Mandya or Chikkaballapur for the second phase. The cost of the project is Rs 300 crore.
Further, KMF is also looking to expand its offering to health drinks, functional & ready-to-eat foods, flavoured milk, milk shakes and so on by setting up a manufacturing plant at a cost of Rs 160 crore. The facility will have a production capacity of 30,000 bottles per hour. The locations are for the first phase at Hesarghatta in Bengaluru and second phase at Mandya or Chikkaballapur.
