From starting a milk brand, setting up a plant for converting methane into CNG and finding a market for cow manure and urine, the Gau Sewa Aayog, Haryana, is contemplating several proposals to generate revenue to make gaushalas self sustaining.
A discussion on the proposals will take place in a meeting of the aayog on February 18. There are around 400 gaushalas across Haryana where 3 lakh heads of cattle are kept, while around 1.15 lakh heads of cattle are on the streets.
The chairman of the Aayog, Bhani Ram Mangla, said the aim is to ensure that cattle is shifted to gaushalas and cow sanctuaries where they can be taken care of. “There are several proposals that we have mooted to ensure that the gaushalas are self sustaining, as we cannot keep looking at the government for funds. A discussion would be held during a meeting on February 1,” said Mangla.
Dairy Farmer
Among the proposals mooted is that a milk brand be started on the lines of Amul. Mangla said people are aware of the health benefits of cow milk. In public-private partnership with some company, a new milk brand can be started through which milk from all gaushalas can be sold.
A 200-acre plot of land has been identified in Panipat where the first cow sanctuary of Haryana would be constructed. It would house 5,000 heads of cattle. At this sanctuary, a biogas plant will be set up. The proposal is to convert the methane that is produced in the biogas plant into CNG which can be sold. Cow sanctuaries would be set up at four more places including two in Bhiwani and one each in Jind and Yamunanagar. The aayog would also be selling manure and cow urine produced at all the gaushalas and sanctuaries.
Another proposal is to install solar panels at all the gaushalas for power generation at Rs 46 crore. “An amount of Rs 30 to Rs 40 per day is required for the upkeep of each cattle head. I will urge the government to allow tax exemptions for donations to gaushalas,” Mangla said.
Though milk prices continue to rise at regular intervals, all is not well with the milk industry. Milk dealers and farmers continue to suffer due to various problems. But experts dealing with the issue see scope for improving the situation by taking a holistic view.
Farmers say they are the most affected as they say the price of feeds has risen over the years. Tamilnadu Milk Producers Association secretary Rajendran (photo on right) says, “Milk production cost has increased over the years. When we were using indigenous breeds, the feed would be mostly green fodder, dry fodder (maize and corn stem), rice bran, rice porridge and other household bio waste. But for mixed breed from Jersey, Holstein Friesian (introduced in the 1980s) which give more milk, the feed has to be very good.”
Explaining, Rajendran said, “To get one litre of milk, a mixed breed must be fed 400 gm of concentrate (rice bran + pulses, vitamins and other salts). For producing at least 10 litres of milk, one has to feed 4 kg of concentrates. And a 70 kg bag of concentrates cost around Rs 1,300 while 10 kg of corn stem costs Rs 300, and 10 kg of maize stem costs Rs 120. On an average, dairy farmers spend Rs 300 on a cow a day. Apart from this, maintenance and labour costs also add up to the total expenditure. Since most families involve themselves as workers in the business, the labour cost gets adjusted.”
While dairy farmers are worried about the increasing cost of feed, dealers feel betrayed that the commission rates have not been increased for the past 13 years. Tamilnadu Milk Dealers Welfare Association president S A Ponnuswamy says, “Milk industry consists not only of customers and milk producers, it also has milk distributors, wholesalers and dealers. While private milk companies give a commission of Rs 4 for every litre, Aavin provides only Rs 1.50 per litre which must be shared between the wholesalers and dealers. If a milk dealer sells 500 litres of milk a day, he would get only Rs 250 as commission. This forces many retailers to stock private milk.”
Regarding the prices for milk, monthly card-holders pay Rs 2-3 per litre less than the MRP (maximum retail price), wholesalers and dealers get around Rs 1.50 per litre and co-operative societies get 0.50 paise less the MRP. If the rate system is streamlined and common rate is fixed, it will benefit every stakeholder involved in the milk trade, say experts.
Perambur MLA and CPI (M) leader A Soundararajan (photo on left), who participated in various protests on behalf of milk farmers and dealers, says, “Increasing procurement centres, milk procurement price, sale of milk and its products is the solution.”
He feels Aavin must take steps to increase the sale of milk through various methods like introduction of 200 ml milk in the noon-meal scheme for schoolchildren. Some years ago, the State government stopped the scheme of supplying 200 ml milk to all students of the noon-meal scheme. If the scheme is re-introduced, milk sales will increase to 20 lakh litres per day.
Aavin dairy products
He also says that Aavin does not concentrate on milk products. “The basic ingredients of milk chocolates is milk, Since milk is abundantly available in the State, the State agency must produce more varieties of milk chocolates and make necessary promotions for improving sales.”
Stressing on the importance of welfare measures, Soundararajan says, “Down the years, milk producers, dealers and workers have been brought under the unorganised workers sector. But, we need to create a separate welfare board for them.”
Governor Acharya Devvrat today inaugurated Milk Pasteurisation and Animal Cattle Feed Development plants at Namhol in Bilaspur district.
Speaking on the occasion, he said that agriculture was the backbone of the economy of the State ad it was a matter of contentment that farmers of the State were taking up off-season vegetable production at large level which had helped in them in improving their life style. He also applauded the efforts of Kamdhenu Hitkari Sabha, Namhol for playing a major role in milk production and improving the economic condition of the farmers of the area by providing them avenues of self- employment. He expressed happiness that the Sabha was catering to milk requirement of 2800 families of around 200 villages of district Bilaspur besides Sundernagar, Dhardlaghat,Shimla, Mandi, Hamirpur and Solan towns.
Dairy Farm
He urged the farmers to get associated with the organisation to improve their economy adding that emphasis should be given on rearing of cattle producing good quality milk.
He also awarded cheques to 12 best milk producers amounting to Rs. 7, 42,233 and Rs. 5, 63,223 to various others milk producers.
Acharya Devvrat also inaugurated the Special Olympics National Games at historical Luhnu ground of Bilaspur town. The National Training camp at Bilaspur was being organised to select and train the sportspersons representing India for the Special Olympic World Winter Games to be held in Austria in March, 2017. He said that 500 special players including boys and girls of Himachal Pradesh would be participating in the floor ball and snow events.
Dakshina Kannada Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd has set itself a target of being self-reliant in milk production by June 2017. A series of measures rolled out including providing highest procurement price of Rs 30.11/kg of milk to farmers among the 14 milk unions in Karnataka is helping the union reach its goal. Farmers also get additional Rs 4/litre of milk sold to their respective primary milk cooperative societies by way of government subsidy.
DKMUL at present procures 3.67-lakh kgs of milk each day through the 683 societies in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi. It procures additional 50000kgs each day from Hassan Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd to meet local demand and sells 3.5 lakh kgs of milk to consumers each day. With around 48,000kgs converted in to curds, DKMUL ends up producing nearly 16 different varieties of milk products with the remainder of 19000 kgs of milk in its possession.
DKMUL Products
B V Sathyanarayana, managing director, DKMUL told TOI that every effort is being made to boost local production of milk and milk the union self-reliant. “We are expecting to procure 3.67-lakh kgs of milk by May-June this year and touch 4.5-lakh kgs of milk during the same period, a year down the line,” he said, adding the current need is around 4.1-4.2-lakh kgs of milk each day and the difference is being met from imports from neighboring milk union at Hassan.
Averring that the procurement demand too is expected to touch 4.5-lakh kgs by May-June 2017, Sathyanarayana said the union is striving to close out this demand supply gap by then. Lauding the support given by the 683 societies, Sathyanarayana noted that the quality milk they supply is making the union’s task a lot easier. Against quality norms of 3.5% fat and 8.5% solids-not fat (SNF) in milk, our farmers supply milk that has average 4.4% fat and 8.57% SNF.
It’s a win-win for consumers as the tricity milk market is set to witness the clash of the titans.
As Amul — the brand that spurred the White Revolution in the country — is trying to make inroads into the market here, Punjab’s Verka, ‘till-now-undisputed’ indigenous brand of milk and milk products, has decided to take the giant head on.
Amul has started supplying about 25,000 litres milk per day in the tricity which is considered a strong market for Punjab State Co-operative Milk Producers’ Federation Limited (Milkfed) that owns brand Verka.
Feeling the heat, Verka has rolled out an aggressive marketing strategy. As a result, the billboard war is on between the two giants in SAS Nagar with Verka promising “purity”, while Amul offering the “Taste of India” at competitive rates.
Amul is primarily tapping into the unorganised milk sector which as per an estimate is about 15-20 lakh litres per day. The organised sector — about 5 lakhs litres a day — is dominated by Verka.
The Punjab brand has now decided to improve procurement, offer better rates to dairy farmers and consolidate its dealer network.
Verka claims its milk is being procured from local dairy farmers, whereas other players in the market (read Amul) are procuring it from contractors.
Verka officials also plan to increase the number of its retailers (about 3,000 so far). “As of now, we are just strengthening our retailer network. We would be adding about 40 more Verka booths by next month, taking the total number of such booths to 180,” said JK Gupta, general manager, Verka milk plant, SAS Nagar.
For Amul, the tricity is a lucrative market. “Chandigarh, Panchkula and SAS Nagar are very promising market for us. We aim to capture 25% of the market. We have started selling milk through 1,200 retailers in the tricity. The number will go up gradually,” said JS Punjrath, who heads Amul’s operations in Punjab. Punjrath is a former managing director of Milkfed.
Verka Milk Plant
Amul made its first plant functional in Batala in Gurdaspur district in November 2014. Most of its procurement is being done from Batala from where the milk is sent for packaging to a plant in Khamano in Fatehgarh Sahib district.
“Our daily procurement is 1.15 lakh litre which we expect to increase to more than 3 lakh litres by April”, added Punjrath, who claimed that they are not in competition with anyone but their presence would definitely improve functioning of Verka. Consumer is the king
With Amul stepping into the market, tricity customers will have more options to buy quality milk at competitive rates. Earlier, Verka — being the biggest player in the organised sector — used to dictate milk prices but now with another option available, prices would remain under control.
Competition will ensure quality, say experts. Dairy farmers all smiles
Dairy farmers are likely to get better procurement price for their produce. It will also give a much-needed boost to the dairy industry.
Amul pays Rs 565 per kg fat along with bonus to its suppliers, while Verka pays around Rs 520.
“Verka will have to improve its quality and increase its procurement rates to retain suppliers. As of now, Amul is not procuring directly from dairy farmers and is banking on contractors for supply. But once they start procurement from dairy farmers, it would definitely make things difficult for Verka,” said a former chairman of Verka milk plant. Share of pie
Verka procures only about 5.5% of milk produced in the state. Small dairies, sweetshops and smaller processing entrepreneurs procure the rest. Tricity milk stats
*Organised milk market: 5 lakh lts per day
*Unorganised market: Between 15 to 20 lakh lts per day
*Verka share as on date: 75% of the organised market
*Vita share: About 5%
*Others: The share of Reliance, Nestle, Mother Dairy, Tru is close to 20 %
Verka prices
Full cream milk: Rs 46/lt
Standard milk: Rs 42/lt
Double tonned: Rs 34/ lt
Skimmed milk: Rs 32/lt
Amul is kept its prices the same as that of Verka. Only the rate of full cream milk is Rs 1 less than Verka.
Following requests from consumers, Aavin is ensuring availability of milk throughout the day at 450 locations across the city. After early morning supply of milk to booths for monthly card holders and retail outlets, it will run 15 additional supply routes.
Sources in the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation, whose popular brand is Aavin, said they were running the additional routes due to demand from consumers. “Milk is usually sold out in the morning and consumers are unable to get it in the evenings. Now, our franchise outlets and parlours will sell milk till 8 p.m.,” said a source.
The second round of milk supply would be carried out by Aavin’s own fleet of trucks and this would also help in ensuring supply to caterers.
“So far, we have been supplying only during the mornings to caterers as well. Based on demand, we are commencing evening supply. We give a discount of Re. 1 on MRP for caterers who buy in bulk,” said a source.
Aavin Products
L. N. Srinivasan, a caterer of Mylapore, welcomed the move. “We need not arrange for storage of milk now. Also, this would ensure fresh milk for coffee in the evening,” he said.
P. Muralidharan, a resident of West Mambalam, recalled that earlier, Aavin used to supply milk in the evenings too, through automatic milk-vending machine booths.
Aavin currently supplies 11.50 lakh litres of milk daily to the city. Of this, over seven lakh litres is in blue packets (toned milk) priced at Rs. 18.50 per half-litre and two lakh litres in green packets (standardised milk) at Rs. 20.50 per half-litre. Consumers can call Aavin’s 24-hour helpline 1800 425 3300 for queries and complaints.
Though latest information is indicative that GST (Goods and Services Tax) would be applied at a minimum of 18% on all products, whether it is applicable for all dairy products is not yet clear. It would be unfortunate if such a bracket is applied to processed dairy products. Compared to other industries, the dairy sector has direct implication on the milk producers in India.
Dairying in India is unique in more than one respect. It is the most intensive employer plus the best employer for the landless labour in India. Milk contributes close to the third of gross income of rural households and in the case of those without land, nearly half of their gross income. An estimated 68 million rural households, of which about three-fourth are landless, marginal or small farmers are engaged in milk production.
Milk ensures food security and nutritional security including in rural India. If a farmer owns just one milking animal, he will not commit suicide. Milk ensures daily income to him and some food for his family. The distribution of rural income, as reflected in the gini coefficient (the measure of inequality) is very low for the dairy sector, indicating that the ownership and the income are more evenly distributed and the progress in this sector will result in a more balanced development of rural economy.
Milk production – 4-4.5% growth
Milk is a single agricultural crop that has highest value, more than combined value of wheat and rice. Milk production has shown rapid growth of 4 to 4.5 per cent per annum during the last 25 years. Livestock sector accounts for 28-30 per cent of GDP of agriculture.
Milk provides the best bioavailability of protein, in particular to the vegetarians. Milk is, an essential nutritional requirement of human beings. The children largely depend on milk for nutrition. Higher milk production, therefore, will also improve the health status of the farmers and people at large. High cost of milk and milk products shall make it unaffordable to poor strata of society.
Milk is highly perishable. Therefore its processing, packaging and conversion to long life products is more a necessity than a luxury. Processed milk products e.g., milk powders, butter, ghee, and cheese, extend the life of milk that would otherwise perish. This also makes the setting up of facilities for milk processing and manufacturing of dairy products highly capital-intensive. Similarly, handling of dairy products requires highly reliable and unbreakable cold chain needing heavy capital investment in the network for sales and distribution.
Dairy Industry
Considering these factors, it is reasonable that at par with agriculture produce, the milk products be also exempted from any excise duty, sales tax and similar other taxes. This gesture of the government would go a long way in accelerating the growth of the Indian dairy industry.
Existing Taxation Regime
According to the existing taxation regime there is no tax on any of the fresh dairy products like raw milk, pasteurised–packaged milk, dahi, chachh, lassi and their variants. None of the dairy products attract excise duty except for the sterilised-sweetened-flavoured milks that also in a very few states. Mandi fee that once was levied on ghee across India has been abolished except in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and that too has been reduced to 2% only. Value-added tax is levied at 2-5% on milk powders, 5% on chakka (basic raw material for shrikhand), table butter, cream, and UHT milk packed in cartons.
It is widely expected that GST will be an amalgam of VAT, excise duty, octroi, entry tax, mandi fee, cess and so on. From unconfirmed reports it is known that the lowest rate of GST proposed is 18%. The Union government has worked out this percentage factoring all the aforesaid levies. It would be appropriate that the dairy industry is classified as farming and the dairy products treated as farm produce rather than processed foods.
High rate of GST, if applied, would have direct implication on milk producers. Dairy is perhaps the only industry that is able to pay to the milk producer about 70% of what is charged from the consumer. No other food processing industry in India is able to meet such high expectations of the farmers.
In fact in most countries that have well developed dairy industry, the highest proportion of the consumer that is passed does not exceed 35% of the amount paid by the consumer. It is apprehended that high GST would incite the industry to reduce the milk prices paid to the milk producer. High rate of GST might also increase the consumer prices of dairy products substantially. The consumer would have a tendency to reduce the consumption of processed dairy foods as well as milks. If the consumer moves more towards the traditional vendor, the organised dairy sector that has been wresting the market of vendors, would contract in size and consequentially reduce its reach to the milk producer. This would halt the expansion and investment in the organised dairy sector including the cooperatives.
Proposed GST
It is well known that milk production in India has been consistently growing at 4-4.5% annually. This is because the milk producer in India has seamless farm to fork linkage through direct access to the ever expanding market for milk and milk products. High rate of GST taxation might reverse this cycle. This would cause a decline in the prices of raw milk as paid to the milk producer. The milk producer would find it difficult to manage cows and buffaloes. He might shy of making investment in purchase of livestock assets for increasing milk production.
It is imperative that a softer view is taken while imposing GST regime on the dairy industry. The government ought to have a farmer-centric approach. It should create a special class for the dairy industry by exempting all types of liquid milks, sterilised milks, dahi, chhachh, lassi, shrikhand, paneer and so on from levy of GST and create a special category by levying 4% GST on all other dairy products. Recovery of low tax through dairy sector should not be considered as a loss to the national exchequer but an investment that would spur growth in milk production, ensuring national food and nutritional security and enhancing rural prosperity.
Dakshina Kannada Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited (DKMUL) on Monday launched Milkosoft software that will, among others, allow milk dealers to place orders for milk and other products online.
Now, milk dealers need not have to wait for hours to connect to the union’s personnel for placing orders over phone.
This Milkosoft application can be downloaded by dealers on their smart phones. Dealers can also access the application at: http://dkmul.milkosoft .in/milkosoftapp/.
Through this application, dealers can place orders for milk, curds and 32 other products of the Karnataka Milk Federation during the day.
After the orders are placed, dealers will receive SMS for confirmation of their orders. The dealers can track delivery of their orders, as KMF uses GPS-fitted vehicles. They will receive SMS about the time the orders are delivered.
DKMUL Managing Director B.V. Satyanarayana said that with the new application the more than 800 dealers will not be waiting endlessly to connect to the union’s personnel for placing orders over phone.
DKMUL Products
On an average, the union receives 2,400 calls a day for orders of milk and milk products.
It has taken one year for the Hyderabad-based Vasista Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. to develop this software at a cost of Rs. 1.47 crore.
The first of the three modules of the software was launched on Monday.
Mr. Satyanarayana said that the second module of the application deals with milk procurement wherein details of milk collected at each point in the district will be automatically updated.
The third module was related to the amount of milk collected by the union and how much of it was converted into milk products.
These two modules will be out in the next few weeks. “We are trying to integrate all functions right from procurement till payment of incentive to the milk producer (farmer),” he said.
Chairman of the union Raviraj Hegde asked all milk dealers, at the launch function, to switch over to the new application.
Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim asked the union to develop another application for getting complaints and feedback of customers.
If all goes according to plan, Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) will soon sell its Nandini milk and curd in pet bottles.
This Invest Karnataka 2016, KMF is looking for agencies to set up an automated plant to undertake manufacture of health drinks, ready-to-eat milk products, flavoured milk and milk shakes. The plant should have a capacity to manufacture 30,000 bottles per hour.
The project is proposed to be implemented under a public private partnership (PPP) model in two phases at on Hesaraghatta Road at Bengaluru and Mandya or Chikkaballapur districts.
KMF Joint Director Satish said, “We will provide land to set up the plants that will require an investment of `160 crore.”
Nandini Curd
A senior official confirmed that they are planning to introduce pet bottles for milk and curd. “Like Amul, we want to come out of the tetra pack system. Amul has adopted the pet bottle for many of its products. Pet milk bottles offer better barrier against oxygen and better protection from odours,” he said. However, the proposal is only in the initial stage, he said.
At present, KMF sells flavoured milk and butter milk in tetra packs. To begin with, KMF will dispose the tetra pack system for flavoured milk and replace it with plastic pet bottles.
This apart, KMF is also looking for investors for two automated milk conversion plants, each with 100 MT capacity for an investment of `325 crore. Here plants with processing facility to manufacture milk powder and skimmed milk powder are expected to come up at Doddaballapur and Dharwad in two phases under a PPP model.
In a week’s time, Navi Mumbai resident Dwarkanath Rathi can make a big difference to your mornings – and, of course, the rest of the day as well.
The 62-year-old businessman has bought a patent from the Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) to market a kit that can check whether the milk you get every day is adulterated or not.
“Within a week, the milk-checking kit will be out in the market,” Rathi said.
Rathi is planning to sell the TEST-O-MILK kit for Rs 1,000. You will also have to buy some strips for the test.
Rathi refused to disclose the amount he paid to buy the patent. “One day, I read about the technology developed by DRDO. I contacted them and participated in the patent-buying process. Fortunately, we got the right to own and distribute the across the globe. Even the military will buy it from us now,” Rathi said.
Rathi, who is in the oil trading and pulses business, said that in India almost 60% of the milk supplied is adulterated. “We are the biggest consumers of milk and related products, but is no foolproof, scientific tool to check it,” he said.
Milk Testing
“Adulterated milk is very harmful to children. The nutrient value of milk decreases even by adding water. Even the feed given to increase milk production to sick cows and buffaloes may prove harmful to children,” Samir Dalwai, president, Indian Academy of Paediatrics, Mumbai branch, said.
“By using the kit and strips, people can detect the presence of urea, ammonia fertilisers, nitrate fertilisers, pond water, starch and cereal flours, sucrose, glucose, salt, neutralisers and hydrogen peroxide,” Rathi said.
TEST-O-MILK results can be determined by observing the colour change in strips. Each kit contains a test record book, user manual, eight screw-cap bottles withstand, cleaning brush, 1 lactometer with beaker, forceps and milk dropper and 10 strips.
