To help dairy farmers, the Ernakulam Region Cooperative Milk Producers' Union has launched milking machines that can run on both petrol and electric engines and are connected to motorcycles.
According to John Theruvath, Chairman of the regional milk cooperative, the milking machines were created with the cooperation of the National Dairy Development Board and can milk two cows in eight minutes.
He stated that this was the first time these machines were launched in India with the assistance of the board and that 10 machines had been sent to dairy societies under the Milk Producers' Union.
In the Ernakulam union, there are a total of 936 dairy societies, with around 46,000 dairy producers. Theruvath explained that there had been a scarcity of farmers to milk the animals and that the new milking machines, which are available to even farmers with a small number of milch cows, will help boost production.
Dairy farmers had been dealing with rising labor costs as well as high milking machine prices and this new machine helps cut labor costs.
Theruvath explained that this low-cost milking machine had been tested in various parts of Kerala for the past four years and had proven to be successful. Under the ERCMPU, milking machines have now been distributed to selected dairy societies in the Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kottayam, and Idukki districts.
More farmers will be trained to use the devices in the coming days, according to Theruvath.
Meanwhile, following the COVID-19 outbreak, the area milk cooperative began compensating dairy farmers an extra Rs 2 starting in February, after taking into account the challenges faced by the farmers. Theruvath stated that there was a lack of milk procurement in the state due to sales during the summer months.
The total daily procurement is presently 3.44 lakh liters, with a sale of roughly 4.28 lakh liters (including curd).
