Pilot project shows Nandini’s ‘desi milk’ a big hit

The ‘desi milk’, under Nandini brand introduced by the Karnataka Milk Federation, is gaining popularity in the urban areas with the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) finding positive response to its pilot project in which 1,000 litres were sold in Bengaluru city everyday.

The milk from indigenous (desi) cows has been found to have higher content of A2 protein when compared to the milk from their hybrid cousins that have become popular with dairy farmers due to their high yield. At present, the desi milk is sold in half litre packets.

KMF Director (Marketing) Mrutyunjaya T Kulkarni said residents in urban areas have shown interest in the product, which costs Rs 80 per litre. “Over the last one month, we sold 1,000 litres everyday and we hope to scale it up to 2,500 litres within the next two months. We are taking an active stance in encouraging dairy farmers to go for desi breed of cows,” he said.

The KMF has been providing up to 50% subsidy to farmers to adopt desi cows like Sahiwal and Gir. “We have paid up to Rs 40,000 to farmers to buy these indigenous cows which yield about 10 litres of milk. At present, about 200 cows have been purchased from places like Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. There is a plan to bring an additional 200 in the coming days,” he said.

Officials noted that unlike the hybrid cows, the indigenous cows are known to have higher resistance to diseases and therefore require less maintenance which was also beneficial to farmers.