UP aims to augment milk production by 11th Plan end

To usher in a new era in the dairy sector and emerge as leader in milk production and collection, the Uttar Pradesh government is ambitiously working on the ‘cold chain development’ theme.

The state aims to augment milk production to 2.1 million kg per day by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan from the current level of about 8.8 lakh kg.

UP is among the top milk producers in the country. However, since milk is a highly perishable item, it lags Gujarat and some other states in milk collection due to poor infrastructure and logistics. The milk collection in the state figures around 5 lakh kg per day.

“There are around 14,000 milk producers’ societies in UP having a membership base of almost 7.5 lakh. The number of societies will also be increased to attain the plan target,” a senior diary department official told Business Standard.

Under the cold chain project, Automatic Milk Collection (AMC) units and Bulk Milk Coolers (BMC) will be installed in villages in large numbers.

AMC is a machine, which automatically weighs the milk brought by the farmers, calculates its fat content and fixes the price accordingly. Later, it prints a slip containing all the details for the farmer, which is retained by him for the payment.

AMC has a capacity of about 300 litres and it would be installed at society level. At present 425 odd AMCs are already installed in the state.

For every 10 AMCs, one BMC would be installed with a capacity of about 3,000 litres each. In the current Plan, almost 35,000 AMCs and 3,500 BMCs would be installed in the state.

On an average, the AMC and BMC would cost about Rs 1 lakh and Rs 7 lakh, respectively. “We will soon invite tenders for the supply of the same in bulk to the department,” the official added.

The milk cooperative movement has failed to deliver goods in UP unlike in Gujarat and Rajasthan. To achieve its target, besides the cold chain development, UP has taken several other initiatives to re-energise the diary sector, including the Ambedkar Dairy Self Employment Scheme and Saghan Mini Dairy Scheme.

In the first year of the current plan, the dairy department received a substantial budget of about Rs 120 crore and the figure for the current year is also likely on similar lines.