The State Government would soon introduce online marketing of milk and milk products prepared by its agency Odisha State Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation limited (Omfed), official sources said. The Omfed has been advised to go in for online ordering of milk and milk products for delivery at the doorsteps of consumers.
The move for online marketing is necessitated as the Omfed in unable to dispose of the surplus milk procured by it from farmers across the State, the sources said. Chief Secretary GC Pati has advised the Omfed to develop a market strategy for quick disposal of surplus milk by expanding the area of marketing to the district headquarters and adopting a flexible approach in selection of retail outlets.
While the Omfed was procuring an average of 4.44 lakh litres of milk per day last year, the milk production has reached a peak of 5.20 lakh litres a day in the current year. “It has caused a glut situation in all the dairies and Omfed is facing constraints in disposal of surplus milk of around 30,000 litres daily,” according to the minutes of a meeting of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Department. Besides, milk procurement may increase to six lakh litres in the coming months, it said.
The department said ‘doorstep marketing’ should be encouraged through various media, highlighting the purity and quality of Omfed milk and milk products. The Government has also planned some long-term measures, including setting up of a five-lakh-litre-per-day (lPD) dairy plant in Cuttack, upgradation of capacity of the Bhubaneswar dairy plant from 1.75 lakh lPD to 2.75 lakh lPD, fat handling units at five dairy plants and establishment of a milk powder plant in Balangir district.