SHILLONG June 27: In view of a 50-60% deficit of milk production in state, local dairy farmers have been nudged to tap the “huge market” for milk in Meghalaya.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Monday told dairy farmers that there lies a huge opportunity for the local dairy farmers to meet the market demand for milk in the state.
Sangma was speaking at the inaugural programme at Umlyngka, Upper Shillong, where he launched the Milk Collection Centre of the Umlyngka Primary Milk Producer Cooperative Society Ltd. in the presence of C&RD Minister Hamletson Dohling.
The infrastructure has been funded under the Chief Minister’s Special Rural Development Fund (CMSRDF) and Special Rural Works Programme (SRWP) scheme with a project cost of around Rs 37 lakh.
The new building comprises a chilling unit and testing facilities to maintain quality checks of the milk collected at the centre.
The CM also congratulated the cooperative society for the ‘milestone’ achievement, while assuring the government’s continued support to dairy farmers in the state.
Underlining the important role of dairy cooperative societies in making the state self-reliant in milk production, Sangma said, “Almost close to 2.5 lakh metric tonne of milk is required and more than 50 to 60% is not available, which means there is a huge market within the state of Meghalaya itself.”
Speaking on the occasion, C&RD Minister Hamletson Dohling said that the Umlyngka Primary Milk Producer Cooperative Society, which has been in existence for the past 32 years, is a role model for other cooperative societies in the region.
“Its success is a great example and an encouragement for others to take up dairying,” Dohling said.
Chairman of the Shillong Milk Union and founding member of the Umlyngka Primary Milk Producer Cooperative Society, PR Kharbteng, provided a brief overview of the cooperative society.
The Umlyngka Primary Milk Producers’ Co-operative Society is one of the first dairy cooperative societies in Meghalaya, formed in 1990 with an aim to encourage dairy farming in the village and to improve the livelihood of the villagers.
The society produces more than 4,500 LPD (litre per day) with 120 active dairy farmers contributing to the production of the said volume of milk.
Individual farmer brings the milk produced at his farm to the cooperative which is then processed and marketed through the East Khasi Hills District Co-operative Milk Union Ltd., Shillong.
The Umlyngka Primary Milk Producers’ Cooperative Society has its own bulk milk chilling unit and road milk tanker provided through a central sector scheme under National Programme of Dairy Development (NPDD).
The cooperative society has now increased its production of milk through the Meghalaya Milk Mission scheme.
