KOCHI: Milma and the government will join hands to compensate the Rs 300 crore loss faced by the dairy sector due to the floods. 51 selected blocks in Kerala which were badly hit by the floods will receive an investment of 22 Rs crore from the state and 618 farmers who lost their livestock during the floods will receive a compensation of Rs 30,000, in addition to the Rs 10,000 already distributed, said K Raju, the Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development, Milk Cooperatives. In response to this, Hibi Eden, MLA suggested compensating the loss to dairy farmers with ‘cattle for cattle’.
Raju was delivering the inaugural speech as part of observing National Milk Day at Ernakulam Town Hall Auditorium on Monday. “Even though Milma had an increase of 16 per cent in production, their distribution came down by 1.33 per cent. Hence the cooperative has to focus more on its marketing strategies. The trust of the public on Milma is its biggest strength” added the minister at the event which was held in memory of Dr Varghese Kurien, Father of White Revolution.
Awards for the best dairy organisation and dairy farmer were given by Hibi. P T Gopalakurupp, chairman, Milma in his presidential address said that the ultimate aim of the National Dairy Development Board is to provide safe milk for the public. “Kerala is the highest in milk production and also faces high dairy production cost. Milma’s turnover in Kerala is Rs 3,000 crore and one of the reasons for this is it utilises opportunities even during the challenging times,” he added.
Few new products of Milma were introduced which includes Milma Lassi, Milma Ghee Biscuits and Milk with 90 days expiry. Gopalakurupp, K V Thomas MP, P A Balan Master chairman, ERC MPU, Anil X IAS, Kallada Ramesh, K N Surendran Nair, Abraham T Joseph, P G Valsala, Jose James and P Pugazhendi IFS were present for the event.