Paramjit Singh from Chunni Khurd in District Fatehgarh Sahib procures about 300 litres of milk every day from 30 farmers of his village. He shows off an electronic equipment to measure milk, given to him by Reliance, which has opened 400 milk collection centres in as many villages of Punjab as part of its milk procurement and retail marketing programme. For Punjab dairy farmers like Paramjit, there is a range of choices opening up so far as buyers are concerned.

Over GM crop trial: The anti-GM lobby group in New Zealand has challenged the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) for approving 10-year-field trials for genetically modified brassicas.

IN YET another step towards combating inflation, the government has withdrawn export incentives on skimmed milk and other dairy products. Benefits provided under vishesh krishi and gram udyog yojana (VKGUY) and focus market scheme have been withdrawn for export of skimmed milk product, casein (milk protein) and other milk products as well, a public notice put out by the directorate general of foreign trade said.

The economy of Karbi Anglong is basically agrarian and hence the economic development of the district is dependent on agro-based activities. The Animal husbandry, veterinary and dairy development programmes come next to the agriculture. This provides alternative occupation to the jhumia families and farmers. The cooperative movement which started in Gujarat with AMUL as a flagship scheme has now spread to almost 200 districts including Karbi Anglong.

The city is likely to face an acute shortage of milk following the decision taken by all associations of dairy farmers to observe an indefinite strike from Monday evening in protest against the city government's drive to ensure observance of the official rates of milk. The city government has fixed the milk rate at Rs34 per litre at the retail level but the retailers have been charging Rs40-42 per litre in different parts of the city since April 1.

The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has taken over the management of Assam's own AMUL

Mother Dairy is expanding its probiotic portfolio with the launch of Nutrifit, a fermented probiotic milk. The company, which is eyeing a slice of the wellness market, said its manufacturing facility at Pilkhua, in Uttar Pradesh, will achieve 100 per cent capacity utilisation in two years' time. The facility can produce up to five million bottles a day. "The successful launch of our b-Activ probiotic curd and lassi showed that Indians are ope n to healthier eating options.

The management of a milk processing plant has been called by the government to explain why it has not been following environmentally-friendly practices and to submit some relevant reports here on Mond