Kerala - Kattappana   

A project that may end milk shortage

KATTAPPANA: If the Ksheera Sagaram Complete Dairy Project, to be implemented in Nedumkandam block panchayat of Idukki district, produces the desired result, the shortage of quality milk in the State could end.

The pilot project will be implemented by the Kudumbasree district mission unit in association with the three-tier panchayat system, Department of Animal Husbandry, Agriculture Department and Kerala Livestock Development Board.

The Nedumkandam block has been selected for the project as the topography of the area is conducive to dairy farming. It has also found that a large section of the people left dairy farming due to low income in the wake of high price for cattle feed, low production of milk by cows and due to a fall in the grazing area for cattle.

A remedy could be found by cultivating hybrid varieties of grasses and rearing of cows with high productivity of milk. It will be on the same line of Nature Fresh milk supplied by the members of a Kudumbasree unit in Thodupuzha that had made a brand name defeating all other brands in the area. Explaining the implementation of the Ksheera Sagaram project, K.P. Venugopal, Assistant District Mission co-ordinator of the Kudumbasree Mission said that in seven grama panchayats, each group of five members will be selected and given training at the Mattupetty training centre.

The financial help will be made available to them and a quality criteria set for maintenance of hygiene as being done by the entrepreneurs of the Nature Fresh milk. As per the official estimate, 16 per cent of the total cows grown in the district are in Nedumkandam block and around 50,000 litres of milk is being marketed through various agencies in the block.

It is also estimated that in the district alone, there is a shortage of 1.7 lakh litres of milk. Mr. Venugopal said that the average production of milk by a cow in the State is six litre and it is possible to raise it to 12 litre to make the venture profitable.

An elaborate data has been prepared for the implementation of the project with ample stress given to problems being faced by the sector.

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