Kerala attains self-sufficiency in milk production

Noting that the State’s dairy sector is in fine fettle despite having faced adverse situations in recent times, Kerala’s Minister for Dairy Development Adv K. Raju said that Kerala has achieved self-sufficiency in milk production.

“In the 2019-20 financial year, Milma procured an average 12.5 lakh litres of milk per day. The per day sales was at an average of 13.37 lakh litres. To meet the excess demand, we had to rely on cooperative institutions in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. But as per the statistics till January, Milma is procuring 14.20 lakh litres of milk per day. The sales stand at an average 13.25 lakh litres per day,” the Minister told a press conference at Milma Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on January 25.

P.A. Balan Master, Chairman, Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF), said in the aftermath of COVID-19, a good number of NRIs, who had returned to Kerala, are turning to dairy sector. “We hope that the number of NRIs taking up dairy farming will steadily increase. Their entry is also one of the reasons for the increase in production of milk in the State.”
K.S. Mani, Chairman, Malabar Regional Co-operative Milk Producers Union (MRCMPU), said that Kerala is the only state where dairy farmers are being provided a high price for their output.

Marking a major stride in the dairy sector, Mr. Raju will launch the work on Milma’s Milk Powder Plant and will also dedicate the first phase of Malappuram Dairy Project at Moorkanad in Malappuram district on February 9 at 2pm.
Minster for Higher Education K.T. Jaleel; P.K. Kunhalikutty MP; and T.A. Ahammed Kabeer, MLA, Mankada, will also be present on the occasion.

The Milk Condensing Plant of Wayand Dairy under MRCMPU will also be inaugurated by the Minister, through videoconference, at the same function at Moorkanad Dairy Project compound.

“Two of the three leading districts in milk production are in the Malabar region. In the last financial year, the milk procurement of Malabar was 1.26 lakh litres higher than sales. The surplus milk was used to supply to Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam unions. But, this year, owing to the fillip in dairy sector and crisis in other job sectors, the milk procurement in Malabar Regional Union has reached an excess of 2.12 lakh litres per day,” the Minister explained.

Mr. Raju said that such a situation necessitates Milma’s own milk powder plant in Malabar. He said that the work on the project will be completed in one year and it’s an important project for the development of Malappuram.

One of Kerala’s largest diary sector projects, Milk Powder Plant at Moorkanad is being set up by Kerala Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, Milma.

The plant, with an initial installed capacity to produce 10 metric ton milk powder per day, is being built at a cost of Rs 53.93 crore. Of this, the state Dairy Development Department has earmarked Rs 15.50 crore while Rs 32.72 crore will be provided by NABARD under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) scheme and Rs 5.17 crore to be met by the Malabar Regional Cooperative Milk Producers Union.
The plant is coming up in the six-acre land owned by MRCMPU. It will have state-of-the-art modern equipment and the latest Thermal Vapour Recompression (TVR) technology.

These two projects form part of major strides made by Kerala in the dairy sector during the last five years. A string of developmental and welfare schemes that significantly contributed to achieve the Government’s policy of enabling dairy farmers to gain self-sufficiency have been implemented during this period through the departments of Dairy Development, Animal Husbandry, Milma and other allied institutions.

Wayanad enjoys the reputation of being the largest milk producing district in Kerala, and the Centre has selected it as one of the ‘milk-friendly’ districts of the country. Naturally, Wayanad qualifies to have the first milk condensing plant of the state. The plant, which is fully functional and has the capacity of 3,000 litre/hour, has been set up by utilizing the Rs 310 lakh provided under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), the financial aid allotted to the Union by the Centre and the State governments and the Union’s own fund of Rs 120 lakh. The production of value-added products like milk ‘peda’ can be increased using the condensed milk being produced in the plant.

Dr Patil Suyog Subhashrao IFS, Managing Director, KCMMF was also present at the press conference.