While the Lokayukta court has ordered a probe into irregularities in the purchase of cattle feed by the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), it has come to light that the cattle feed (Cotton Seed De-Oiled Cake – CSDOC) it purchased from two companies in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu was adulterated and reportedly unfit for cattle.
The irregularities have allegedly caused a loss of over Rs. 40 crore to the KMF.
An analysis of three samples of “feed ingredients” done at a national-level dairy research institute in Bangalore has shown that the samples did not have the required percentage of crude protein (41.2 per cent) but had other ingredients which were over 150 per cent in excess.
P. Nagaraj, director of KMF, who along with two farmers, is fighting the legal battle in the Lokayukta court, had collected three samples of CSDOC from the KMF’s Rajanukunte plant and submitted them for analysis.
Test results
The results showed that while crude protein was less than the required percentage, crude fibre content, which should have been 11.2 per cent, was 15.9 per cent, 18.8 per cent and 17 per cent in the three samples.
Nitrogen-free extract should have been in the range of 40 to 50 per cent. However, its presence in the three samples was found to be at 24.5 per cent, 24.7 per cent and 30.5 per cent.
Similarly, neutral detergent fibre (cell wall constituents) was found in excess of 150 per cent in the samples. Against the required percentage of 24.5, the presence of neutral detergent fibre was found to be 55.8 per cent, 65.6 per cent and 74.2 per cent.
The presence of acid detergent fibre was 31.3 per cent, 35 per cent and 43.1 per cent in the samples against the standard of 17.3 per cent. Against the standard 4 per cent, the presence of acid detergent lignin was found to be 11 per cent, 14.4 per cent and 10 per cent in the samples.
Mr. Nagaraj’s contention is that the suppliers had adulterated the consignment with cottonseed hull, soil and sawdust, among other materials. The KMF had supplied cattle feed to its plants at Rajanukunte, Dharwad, Hassan and Gubbi. The KMF is distributing this CSDOC to individual farmers.
28,650 tonnes
The KMF has been supplied 28,650 tonnes of “adulterated” cattle feed. It had placed an order July 2012 for 28,650 tonnes of CSDOC at Rs. 20,650 a tonne initially and after 15 days at Rs. 27,100 a tonne. The market price of cottonseed hull is Rs. 4,000 a tonne. “This purchase of adulterated feed at an exorbitant rate (total cost over Rs. 69 crore) would not have been possible without the connivance of officials and KMF chairman G. Somashekhar Reddy. What is more startling is that the same adulterated material is being distributed to farmers as feed pellets. Farmers buy them from the KMF because of the trust them have in the federation. The adulterated feed will do more harm than good to the cattle,” Mr. Nagaraj told The Hindu .
Mr. Nagaraj has written to the managing director of the KMF on getting the feed samples tested in research institutes such as the National Dairy Research Institute.
Mr. Nagaraj has started collecting samples of the CSDOC supplied to the four KMF plants in the State. On Saturday, he was in Dharwad to collect the samples.
After being informed about “adulterated” feed, farmers’ leaders demanded immediate the fodder be immediately seized.
