Milk collection centres turn into dairy firms

Laxman Kafle / Hetauda, June 28: At a time when one cooperative after another is becoming problematic, some cooperative organsiations related to milk collection have been developed as an industry.

A total of 13 milk and dairy products processing and diversification and marketing sub-projects run by dairy producers’ cooperatives in Bagmati and Madhes provinces have been completed and started milk processing.

Thanks to the Nepal Livestock Sector Innovation Project (NLSIP) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development which has helped them develop as milk processing industry.

Manakamana Dairy Producers’ Cooperative (Manakamana Dugdha Utapadak Sahakari Sanstha) of Makawanpurgadhi Rural Municipality-3, Makranchuli of Makwanpur and Shree Devnagar Dairy Producers’ Cooperative of Bharatpur Metropolitan City-6, Chitwan upgraded into milk processing industries from milk collection centres after getting support from the NLSIP.

Other cooperatives, such as Bethanchowk Dairy Producers’ Cooperative of Kavrepalanchowk, Gaurigunj Dairy Producers’ Cooperative, Pithuwa Dairy Producers’ Cooperative and Gauridhara Dairy Producer’s Cooperative of Chitwan, Kalika Agriculture Cooperative and Janachetana Abhiyan Agriculture Cooperative of Dhanusha, Sai Agriculture Cooperative and Ramnagar Small Farmer Agriculture Cooperative of Saptari, Small Farmer Agriculture Cooperative and Bala Sundari Small Farmer Agriculture Cooperative of Siraha and Namuna Women Multipurpose Cooperative of Kathmandu have started producing dairy products.

The NLSIP is a project conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development with the support of concessional loans from the World Bank with the aim of increasing productivity in selected livestock value chains, increasing the value of livestock products and strengthening the animal service sector of Nepal.

This project has been implemented since the fiscal year 2017/18.

The NLSIP is conducting sub-projects in 289 municipalities in 28 districts of five provinces of the country.

This project is conducting a subsidiary project by cooperating with the farmers in a cooperative/group and individual manner with the aim of making the country self-sufficient in the production of milk, goat meat and pashmina.

With the support of the project, these cooperatives which started milk collection from farmers almost three-four decades ago, are now starting to manufacture dairy products such as curd, ghee, butter, cheese and chhurpi.

In this project, there is a provision that the project should invest 50 per cent, banks and financial institutions should invest 30 per cent while 20 per cent should be self-invested by the sub-projects.