The Krishnaveni Krishna District Milk Producers Cooperative Union will target procuring 30,000 litres in the current financial year expanding its current size of 20,000 litres.

The Krishnaveni Union Chairman Bullaiah Chowdhary said that they collect about 22,000 lt. in a lean season and 30,000 litres at the peak, but processing is done only to the tune of their market share of 20,000 litres for all milk products put together.

The union currently procures milk from 245 centres and proposes to enhance it to 489 centres and currently it has 12 Bulk Milk Chilling Units, which would be augmented by 12 more in the year ahead.

Currently it gives 2,000 litres to the Andhra Pradesh Dairy Development Cooperatives Federation Ltd. to be picked up by other unions or get it processed for products at the Sangam Dairy in Vadlamudi in Guntur district. No preservatives like formalin or neutralizers are added and strict quality is maintained, he said.

The union gets the milk processed at the Kankipadu milk factory with a 50,000 litre capacity. Vijayawada city has a total consumption of about 3.25 lakh litres of milk in both domestic and commercial segments and it has a very small share of 20,000 litres with Krishna Union (Chittinagar) taking the major chunk of 2 lakh litres marketing. He blamed several milk unions and private operators for vitiating the milk market by creating unhealthy competition by offering additional percentage of commission to the vendors and capturing them.

The Krishnaveni Union also proposes to open parlours in the city at vantage points to improve its presence and sell its products in retail. Mobile veterinary vans have been pressed into service and regular cattle health camps are organised, he said.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by Special Correspondent / September 07th, 2012