THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
The Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) of the Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF), known by its brand name Milma, on Friday adopted a growth-oriented budget for 2023-24 pegging the revenue at Rs 680.50 crore and expenditure at Rs 679.28 crore, anticipating a surplus of Rs 1.22 crore during the financial year.
The AGM, which met at KCMMF headquarters Milma Bhavan here, also adopted resolutions covering a wide range of key issues relating to the milk sector in the state.
The AGM also congratulated and thanked the state government for exempting Milma from the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act (Third Amendment) of 2022, passed by the State Assembly.
The budget made allocations for Milma’s cattle feed factories at Pattanakkad and Malampuzha, Central Products Dairy at Alappuzha and the headquarters expenses, besides making provisions to ensure remunerative returns to farmers and initiatives to step up productivity.
“The surplus budget will definitely help Milma achieve further growth overcoming the challenges on the way. The AGM also took an overview of the dairy scenario and came out with fruitful suggestions to strengthen the ecosystem by increasing productivity and attracting youths to dairy farming, besides identifying live issues that need to be addressed with the support of the state and central governments,” Milma Chairman K S Mani said.
The meeting noted that the brand repositioning initiative launched by KCMMF has contributed significantly for increase in sales of Milma’s products.
The meeting, however, held that considering the sharp decline in procurement of milk, effective steps needed to be taken to improve productivity and reduce the input cost with the support of the government and allied agencies, besides launching schemes to attract the young generation to the dairy sector.
The AGM also adopted resolutions seeking implementation of a comprehensive insurance cover for all milch animals and a scheme to offset interest on bank loans availed by farmers for purchase of livestock.
Resolutions were also adopted covering a wide range of issues like reforming the licence provisions for dairy activities, exemption from GST on dairy products and audit cost and exempting milk co-operative societies from income tax.
The meeting also sought financial assistance from the Central Government for cultivation of silage, green fodder and maize, inclusion of dairy farming under the purview of employment guarantee schemes. For securing these demands, the state and Union Governments would be approached through the departments concerned.
The AGM also passed a resolution condoling the death of distinguished personalities and those who had made substantial contributions to the growth of the dairy sector.
