Chhattisgarh traditionally the rice bowl of India is now trying very hard to earn a name for itself in the dairying arena by augmenting milk production nearing levels achieved by Gujarat.
The present milk collection in Chhattisgarh is around 84,000 to 85,000 liters per day. The collection could go up further to around 1.50 lakh liters provided there is a demand, Rasik Parmar Chairman of Chhattisgarh State Cooperative Dairy Federation told The Pioneer.
The Chhattisgarh State Cooperative Dairy Federation is one of the largest Cooperative Dairy Federations in Chhattisgarh, owned and managed by milk producers of the State.
The State Dairy Federation was formed in the year 2013 which was previously known as Raipur Dudgh Sangh (a part of MPCDF of undivided Madhya Pradesh). Thereafter its business was taken over by the Federation to set up two-tier system and it is now planning for three-tier system based on Gujarat’s Anand district pattern, he said.
“According to World Health Organisation (WHO) a person should consume 299 grams of milk every day and going by that calculation, Chhattisgarh has requirement of 75 lakh liters of milk per day,” Parmar said adding, however, the present need of the State is satisfied at 1.50 to 2 lakh liters of milk only.
According to him, low milk demand in Chhattisgarh needs to be seen from a cultural perspective.
“High consumption of milk was not in the culture of the State and connecting more children with milk will be beneficial in fighting malnutrition. The recently launched scheme for distribution flavoured milk in Anganwadi and Schools in Gariaband will definitely help in eradicating undernourishment and generating demands,” he mentioned.
Noteworthy is that the Federation distributes its milk products under the name ‘Deobhog’.
According to Parmar, the Deobhog brand is facing tough competition from neighbouring states like Maharashtra where per liter milk collection cost is around 5 to 10 paisa whereas in Chhattisgarh it is around `1.5 to `2 per liter.
For infrastructure push and improving ‘milk-map’ in the State, we are trying to develop cold chains across the State. So far, we have constructed 30-35 chilling centers ranging from storage capacity of 500 to 15,000 liters of milk, he informed.
The Central Government’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has included Chhattisgarh besides two other states under National Dairy Plan –I (NDP –I) .
The other two states included under NDP-I are Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.
With a view to augmenting livestock and milk production, an elaborate action plan will be prepared for the establishment of 5,000 dairies in Chhattisgarh during the next five years, Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal had stated earlier.
Meanwhile, the CCEA has also extended the implementation period of the NDP-I upto 2018-19 in order to achieve its key outputs .
The CCEA was of the opinion that Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are newly formed States which are primarily inhabited by tribal population having substantial milch animal population and have the potential for coverage under NDP-I.
Considering the potential for implementation of Ration Balancing Programme, Fodder Development and Village Based Milk Procurement System, Uttarakhand has also been included under NDP-I; along with Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, it stated.
Due to the time taken in initiating the implementation of sub projects at End Implementing Agencies (EIAs) level and late approval of NDP-I as mentioned above, it is envisaged that the key outputs of NDP-I as planned would be substantially achieved (e.g. bull production target, sustainability of Pilot AI (Artificial Insemination) Delivery services on full cost recovery basis etc.) with the period of NDP I having been extended up to 2018-19, the CCEA stated.
The NDP-I was approved for implementation in 14 milk potential States by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) through the EIAs with a total outlay of `2242 crore for a period of six years from 2011-12 to 2016-17.