Thicker Nandini milk in market from Feb 22

Launch to coincide with milk producers' convention

The Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) will hold a State-level convention of milk producers on February 22, coinciding with the launch of a new variant of Nandini milk.

Called ‘Nandini Special Milk’ and priced at Rs 35 per litre, the new variant will be thicker as it will have higher fat content compared with the Nandini milk being sold at present. It will also have a relatively higher longevity if refrigerated, compared with the ordinary Nandini milk, A S Premnath, managing director of KMF, said at a press conference here on Tuesday. The fat content of the special milk will be four per cent, while the SNF (solids-not-fat) will be a maximum of 8.5 per cent, he added.

The convention is expected to be attended by over one lakh milk producers from 13,000 milk cooperatives. It is aimed at informing and educating them of the best practices in the dairy industry and how to meet the increasing demand for milk and milk products. Its other objective is to raise awareness among milk producers about the foot and mouth disease (FMD) in the livestock.

This apart, the KMF will provide assistance to the department of animal husbandry in vaccinating about 1.25 crore heads of cattle across the State as part of the month-long ongoing drive against the FMD in the State — the sixth such campaign. The entire project is being funded by the Union government. The KMF chief also said milk producers must get their cattle vaccinated under the project or else the federation would stop taking milk from them.

Meanwhile, the KMF has sought Rs 200 crore from the State government to set up four more packaging units for giving milk to schoolchildren.