Belagavi milk union makes ₹12.59 crore profit

The Belagavi District Cooperative Milk Producers Union (BEMUL), a unit of Karnataka Milk Federation, has achieved a turnover of ₹510 crore and a profit of ₹12.59 crore this year.

In comparison, last year’s turnover was ₹399 crore and the profit ₹13 crore.

“We have decided to build a mega dairy in Belagavi district. It will reduce the need for transporting milk over long distances for processing and allow us to expand and diversify the production of milk products and other value-added products,” MLA and BEMUL president Balachandra Jarkiholi said in Belagavi on Tuesday.

“Our new dairy in Raibag is functioning successfully. This has encouraged us to set up a mega dairy,” he said.

He told reporters that their focus is on the expansion of the milk union by increasing the number of village societies and per capita procurement of milk.

“We have successfully set up 100 mew new milk producer cooperative societies in the district, taking the total number to 685. There has also been significant progress in milk collection, with an average of 2.50 lakh kilos of milk being collected every day,” he said.

He said that a total of 8.20 crore kilos of milk has been collected throughout the year, of which the majority is cow’s milk.

“The State government has distributed ₹32 crore as incentive money to milk producers. But about ₹7.50 crore is still pending. We have brought it to the notice of the State government. It has assured us that it will be released soon,” he replied to a question.

Along with milk procurement, the union has also seen significant growth in the production of ghee, paneer and peda.

A total of 55 franchises has been started in Goa, Pune and Belagavi for market expansion. He clarified that there is no problem in exporting milk to foreign countries and that there is no shortage of cylinders to purify milk in the dairy.

Mr. Jarkiholi said that 25,000 litres of milk from the federation is being supplied to schoolchildren every day under the Akshara Dasoha scheme in Andhra Pradesh.

The Belagavi milk union has distributed ₹331 crore to milk supplying farmers. In addition, about ₹7 crore has been provided as assistance to farmers under profit sharing scheme for purchase of fodder cutters, rubber mats and milking machines and other equipment.

“There is a huge gap between North and South Karnataka in exploiting the potential of dairy farming. It can create a lot of rural jobs. We urge North Karnataka farmers to take up dairy farming to get stable income,” he said.