Daily milk production in Karnataka has declined 15.3 per cent to 3.3 million litres compared to 3.9 million litres a few months ago. The drop in production is mainly attributed to a shortage of cattle feed and migration of cattle to north India, a top official of Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) said.
“The average daily procurement of milk by the KMF had touched 3.9 million litres and also hit an all time high of 4.18 million litres in June last year. However, in the last few days, the procurement has dropped to 3.3 million litres owing to a shortage of cattle feed. We have also received complaints that farmers are selling cattle to northern states like Gujarat and Chhattisgarh, which are facing shortage of milk,” Premnath, managing director, KMF said. However, he said the federation has stopped the supply of milk to neighbouring states like Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to meet the daily requirements of consumers in the state. It has also reduced the production of milk derivatives like milk powder and other valued added products, he said. He said, there was an availability of 21,000 tonnes of cattle feed per month as against the requirement of 35,000 tonnes per month in the state. In order to increase the supplies, the KMF is setting up cattle feed manufacturing units at three places in the state. The first plant, set up at a cost of Rs 36 crore with a capacity of 300 tonnes per day would start production in Hassan by October this year, he said.
In addition to this, the federation is also setting up two more units with a capacity of 300 tonnes per day in Shimoga and 500 tonnes per day plant in Ramnagar at an investment of Rs 107 crore during the next fiscal. The federation has obtained approval from the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) for its Ramnagar project and waiting for a clearance from the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, Premnath said.
He said, to encourage farmers to increase milk production, the KMF is supplying balanced cattle feed at a subsidised rate of Rs 11 per kg as against Rs 13 per kg in the open market.
The KMF is also expanding its milk processing capacities at its mega dairy in Bangalore and is also setting up a value-added product plant. It is also setting up a 100,000 litre per day plant at Channarayapatna for Rs 16 crore to pack UHT (ultra high temperature) milk packets for export. The federation, which is already exporting 50,000 litres of milk per month to Singapore, has received demand from Dubai, Sri Lanka and Philippines, Premnath added.
