May 20, 2013

India's Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts' milk production rise

During 2012-13, milk production and marketing in India's Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts saw a growth of about 14% and 4%, respectively.

Averagely, the milk union marketed 300,000 litres a day during 2012-13 against 288,000 litres a day in 2011-12

Raviraj Hegde, president of the Dakshina Kannada Cooperative Milk Union Ltd, said that the average milk procurement of the union stood at 223,000 litres a day during 2012-13 against 196,000 litres a day in 2011-12, recording a growth of 13.77%.

He said last week's decision of the State Government to increase the subsidy to milk producers from INR2 (US$0.04) a litre to INR4 (US$0.07) a litre would help milk farmers in the district. To a query on the status of procurement after this announcement, he said the union has been getting additional 4,000-5,000 litres of milk a day after the announcement.

As many as 647 primary milk producers' cooperative societies in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts come under the jurisdiction of the union.

However, the demand for milk also increased in the market during 2012-13. On an average, the union marketed 300,000 litres of milk a day during 2012-13 as against 288,000 litres a day in 2011-12, recording a growth of 4.1%.

To meet the demand in the region, the union is bringing around 100,00-150,000 litres a day from the districts such as Hassan, Mysore, Shimoga and Mandya. It marketed around 34,600 kilogrammes of curd a day during 2012-13, recording a growth of 10% over the previous year, he said.

The total turnover of the union stood at INR4.51 billion (US$82 million) during the year. It is expecting a turnover of INR5.55 billion (US$101 million) during 2013-14, Hegde said.

The cooperative union recorded a provisional profit of INR36 million (US$654,000) in 2012-13 as against a profit of INR34.7 million (US$630,000) in 2011-12, he added.