Kollam to launch hi-tech dairy farm, branded milk

KOLLAM: The first ever hi-tech dairy farm in the State is all set for inauguration at Kuriyottumala in Kollam. The Rs 20 crore farm will have the branded farm fresh milk ‘Kuriyottumala milk’ that will hit the markets, with a vision to make the district self-sufficient in milk production. The farm will be inaugurated by Minister for Animal Husbandry K. Raju on Saturday. The fully automated plant can accommodate as many as 240 cows at a time with an expected production of 5000 litres per day in the first phase.

“The hi-tech farm will not have human intervention in any stage of milk production from milking to packaging. Initially the packaged milk will be supplied in areas including Punalur and Pathanapuram and will eventually cover the entire district. The specialty of the farm is that it maintains utmost hygiene,” said Kollam district panchayat president K. Jagadamma.

The farm lies in 91.28 acres of land taken by the district panchayat in 2001. The construction of the hi-tech farm began in 2012. The farm has facilities including dung scraper that cleans dung, automatic drinkers for cattle, dairy fans for air flow, TMR wagons that feed cattle, a bulk cooler having a capacity of 5000 litres to store milk, cow brushes, and an activity monitoring system that closely watch the cattle. The farm that uses German technology is also equipped with milk parlours that can milk 12 cows at a time.

Courses
The state animal husbandry department in association with the Kerala veterinary and animal sciences university has started diploma courses. Courses on dairy entrepreneurship and poultry entrepreneurship with a duration of one year each can be attended in distance education mode while commercial dairy farming will be a regular diploma course of six months duration at the Kuriyottumala dairy farm. The last date for the application is September 25.