Packaging unit for buffalo milk established in Bidar

It will cater to Hyderabad market where there is huge demand

The Bidar-Gulbarga Cooperative Milk Producers Societies Union Ltd. has set up a separate packaging unit for buffalo milk here to cater to the Hyderabad market.

This unit is part of the 30,000-litre packaging unit that has come up on the milk dairy premises on Janawada Road here.

Opportunity

“There is a huge demand for buffalo milk in Hyderabad. The city is within 140 km from Bidar and so we want to cash in on the opportunity,” union president Mallikarjun Biradar told presspersons here on Thursday.

“We collect 12,500 litres of buffalo milk a day. We plan to sell at least 8,000 litres a day in the Hyderabad market.”

Having a packaging unit in Bidar would help us address a major issue, he said.

Mr. Biradar said that till now they had to take all the milk collected in Bidar to Gulbarga to package it. The process took time, leading to a day's gap between collection and sale. With the packaging unit in Bidar, the delay would be avoided and we would be able to sell fresh milk, Mr. Biradar said.

“Till now, we sold a mixture of cow and buffalo milk. But with a separate facility to package buffalo milk, we can cater to a niche market and possibly increase our revenue,” he said.




Inauguration on Sunday

District in-charge Minister Revu Naik Belamagi will inaugurate the packaging unit on Sunday. The Bidar dairy, which includes a processing plant and a cold storage, had been upgraded at a cost of Rs. 1.25 crore.

Mr. Biradar said the union was also focussing on improving procurement of milk. “Last year, we collected around 41,000 litres of milk from farmers every day. This year, our collection crossed 60,000 litres. We hope to increase it further.”

Loans for farmers

He said that in order to achieve this, the union was taking two steps. “We have tied up with the District Central Cooperative (DCC) Bank to provide loans to farmers to buy and maintain cattle. We are also paying an incentive of Rs. 2 a litre to farmers every week,” he said.

The union has made a modest profit of Rs. 74 lakh this year, he said.

Funds for road

He added that Khaji Arshed Ali, MLC, had released money from the MLA local area development fund for a road between Janwada Road and the Bidar dairy.

N. Dharam Singh, MP, will lay the foundation stone for a welcome arch outside the Bidar dairy on Sunday.

The former Minister and DCC Bank chairman Gurupadappa Nagamarapalli will formally launch the scheme under which loans will be given to farmers to buy cattle.

Karnataka Milk Federation chairman G. Somashekar Reddy will be felicitated on the occasion.

source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article3382638.ece