Thiruvananthapuram Regional Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd. (TRCMPU), one of the three regional units of Milma in the State, will launch a scheme for production and distribution of organic vegetables soon. The regional milk cooperative body will also launch projects for making wheat flour and curry powders.
TRCMPU is awaiting government clearance for the projects, its chairman Kallada Ramesh told The Hindu .
Mr. Ramesh said that as Milma was a cooperative body, government sanction was necessary to launch such projects. TRCMPU plans to enrol members of milk producing societies in the projects. The Malabar region of Milma has already launched a project for cultivation of organic vegetables under the aegis of an associated society.
The Thiruvananthapuram region has launched a project to produce packaged drinking water. A plant for making packaged drinking water will come up at Mannar in Alappuzha district. The project, which will cost Rs.5 crore, will be ready within one year. The plant will be capable of producing 10,000 litres of water daily.
A marketing hub intended to store milk from nearby areas will also be set up at Mannar. The project, to cost Rs.20 lakh, will be completed within three months. Milma plans to set up three more marketing hubs in Alappuzha district.
Milma will seek government aid for setting up polyhouses and other amenities for organic farming. The dairy cooperative will deploy its own funds as far as possible. TRCMPU is also planning to start an employment guarantee scheme for dairy farmers. The region is already extending subsidy to farmers for buying calf and cattle feed.
Mr. Ramesh said Milma’s efforts to provide a higher procurement price to the farmers had resulted in retaining the farmers in the sector. The production had doubled in the region in the past four years. The region produced 2.5 lakh litres of milk daily. The State was bringing only about 2 lakh litres of milk daily from the neighbouring States in place of the 7 lakh litres brought four years ago, he said.
