December 25, 2019

Kerala Feeds to commission new plant

Kerala's Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will commission the high-tech plant of state-run Kerala Feeds Ltd (KFL) at Arikkuzha near Thodupuzha on January 5, which will significantly raise the company's production capacity to meet the growing demand for dairy and poultry feeds at affordable prices, The Hindu reported.

On the occasion, KFL will also launch its new KF Kairali and KF Athulyam brands of layer feed and the KF Dairy Rich feed for milch cows.

The 10-acre, 500-tonne capacity plant with an investment of Rs 75.75 crore (~US$10.64 million, Rs 1 = US$0.014) comes under the Idukki Package, which considers the finding of the M S Swaminathan Commission Report that the hill district has the capability to meet the state's entire demand of milk, KFL chairman K S Indusekharan Nair said.

With the commissioning of the plant, which incorporates Swiss machinery, the total production capacity of KFL will rise to 1,750 tonnes, which will cater to the exclusive needs of cattle feed for Idukki and neighbouring districts.

The plant will also start trial production this month. The state government has provided Rs 17.01 core for setting up the plant. The project has also received Rs 23.25 crore from Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna, a state plan scheme of additional central assistance and a loan of Rs 20 crore from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of India.