Aavin to install 200 bulk milk coolers across Tamil Nadu to improve milk quality

August 13, 2019

Anbuselvan B

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s famed milk distributor Aavin is planning to install about 200 Bulk Milk Coolers (BMC) in the villages across the State this year.

The move is aimed at increasing the milk chilling capacity of the Aavin by 3.94 lakh liter per day and thereby improve the quality of milk. Presently about three to six percent of milk procured from dairy farmers getting spoiled a day because of the lack of infrastructure facilities to maintain cold chain at villages.

“The bulk milk coolers helps to maintain the milk below 4 degree Celsius before it get transported to chilling centres or dairies. The failure to maintain the cold chain will lead to bacteria loading resulting spoilage of the milk,” said a senior official of Aavin, also known by its official name Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation.

The village-level primary co-operative societies which procure milk from dairy farmers send it to the BMCs and chilling centres at the district level. From there, after the demands of the district-level unions are met, the milk is transported to the federation diaries for processing and sale in Chennai.

“The BMC’s receive about 45 % milk procured in the State per day, while chilling centres handle about 45 to 50 % per the milk. The remaining milk directly received at dairies. In some villages milk received at BMCs will directly be transported to dairies without going to chilling centres,” said the official.

The works for enhancing the capacity of coolers are to be taken up under National Programme on Dairy Development (NPDD) and Village Based Milk Procurement System (VBMPS).

The State has 356 bulk milk coolers with a chilling capacity of 15.94 lakh liters. Under NPDD it has been proposed to increase the chilling capacity of coolers in villages to 18.12 lakh liters per day. “We will be installing 500, 1000 and 2000 liter capacity coolers to help the cooperative societies to maintain the cold chain for the milk. Cooperative societies which procure 500 liters a day for the past five years will be covered under this programme,” said official sources in Aavin.

Aavin procures about 34 lakh liters of milk per day from 20.3 lakh dairy farmers who were formed into 12,585 co-operative societies. “The move will be boost the Aavin milk handling capacity by two lakhs in another two years,” said the sources.

Source: The New Indian Express, August 13, 2019