West UP: Harit Pradesh Milk Producer Organization, plans to expand its reach further during the current financial year to provide benefits to marginal dairy farmers. Currently, the dairy organisation, procures milk from seven districts in western Uttar Pradesh benefitting as many as 54,000 marginal dairy farmers including 19,000 women dairy farmers.
It receives technical support from NDDB Dairy Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). Chairman NDDB and NDDB Dairy Services Dr. Meenesh Shah said, “A large chunk of dairy farmers associated with Harit Pradesh are women who receive milk payments directly in their bank accounts every 10 days thereby empowering them socially and financially, uplifting their standard of living.”
Harit Pradesh at present procures milk from seven districts of western Uttar Pradesh including Bulandshahr, Shamli, Hapur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Bijnor and Saharanpur. As of March 31, 2024, the milk producer organisation operates 1,430 milk procurement points in these districts. It also operates 11 milk chilling centres and 22 bulk milk coolers with a combined chilling capacity of 250,000 litres per day.
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MD, NDDB Dairy Services, Dr. CP Devanand, said, “It indeed is heartening to see the progress made by Harit Pradesh since its inception a little over two years ago. It stands as a tall example of what a producer-owned organisation can achieve once it sets its sights.
“On average, we procure 223,000 litres of milk per day during the financial year 2023-24, directly from our farmer members. Our automated milk collection system at all MPPs enables fair and transparent pricing of milk received from the farmer members. As such, our cloud-based procurement process supported by a member mobile application stands out as a model of digital efficiency and transparency. The technology-driven approach ensures reliability and fairness in every step of milk collection and processing. The members are connected to our Harit Mitra App for all information regarding the milk they poured,” said Dr. Hitesh Poonia, Chief Executive, Harit Pradesh Milk Producer Organization.
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Besides, the company under Rashtriya Gokul Mission has till now provided 42,000 doses of sex-sorted semen to farmers at subsidised rates. The objective behind the move is that high-genetic merit female calves are born which will further enhances the overall productivity of dairy farm animals.
Harit Pradesh Milk Producer Organization also helps its farmer members access cheap credit from banks to buy quality cattle, thereby, strengthening their dairy operations and overall livelihood. Through its tie-up with HDFC Bank, it has facilitated loans to the tune of Rs 12 crore to 1,130 beneficiary farmer members thereby facilitating the induction of 1,500 cattle.
