Patna: Comfed, which markets its products under the Sudha brand, plans to raise daily milk procurement in Patna district by about 9,000 litres by the end of Sept by setting up 115 new milk collection societies.The expansion plan was reviewed at a meeting chaired by district magistrate Kundan Kumar on Thursday. Officials said 50 of the proposed 115 milk collection societies had already been formed.At present, 812 societies procure around 86,000 litres of milk every day. Once all the new societies become operational, daily procurement is expected to rise to 95,000 litres.Kundan asked officials to expedite the formation of the remaining societies so that more livestock farmers could benefit from the dairy cooperative network. He said strengthening Comfed’s procurement system would promote animal husbandry and enhance farmers’ incomes.The district magistrate also asked officials to ensure payments to milk producers are made through the direct benefit transfer (DBT) system. Officials informed the meeting that DBT payments to members of 295 societies would begin this month before being extended to all societies in phases.Patna district has four bulk milk cooling stations at Paliganj, Anandpur in Maner, Fatuha and Belchhi, besides a 2.5 lakh-litre milk processing plant at Phulwarisharif. A Comfed cattle feed plant is also operational at Jagdeopath, while the capacity of its ice cream unit is being expanded.
