IFFCO inks pact with two firms for dairy biz study

Aiming to establish world-class dairy farms in India, fertiliser major IFFCO today entered into an agreement with two firms, including the world's largest milk exporter Fonterra Cooperative Group, to conduct a joint feasibility study on a pilot basis.

Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Fonterra Cooperative Group and Global Dairy Health in New Zealand, IFFCO said in a release.

"We are delighted to partner with a reputable dairy leader like Fonterra. The synergy of two large cooperatives and dairy experts will help position India as a quality milk producer," IFFCO Joint Managing Director Rakesh Kapur said.

IFFCO said the study, which would be completed shortly, would mainly look at zeroing in on key parameters for the project.

In the first phase, there would be around 3,000-5,000 cows at the farm.

The MoU is the first step towards the vision of establishing large-scale world-class dairy farms in India, it noted.

Fonterra Cooperative Group CEO Andrew Ferrier said the approach taken for the study in India was similar to that in China, where a pilot farm with herd size of 3,000 cows was established in 2007.

IFFCO wants to expand its business into dairy project to cash in on the growing demand of milk in the country. At present, Amul is the biggest player in India.

India is the world’s largest milk producer with a production of 108 million tonnes a year. The demand for milk is projected to rise to 180 million tonnes by 2021.

IFFCO is the world's largest fertiliser cooperative with a membership of 50 million farmers. While Global Dairy Health is an Indian organisation of dairy experts that works to bridge the production gap of high quality and safe milk in protein deficit regions of Asia and Africa.