The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) chairman Meenesh Shah informed Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday that the Aarey and Mahanand dairy brands will be relaunched soon. Shah also announced that NDDB has developed a test strip to detect adulteration in dairy products.
AI System to Prevent Milk Adulteration
During the meeting at the CM's official residence Varsha, Fadnavis suggested that NDDB collaborate with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to develop an artificial intelligence-based system to prevent milk adulteration. The CM noted that currently, only 40% of milk in the state is processed through the organised sector, while the remaining 60% comes from the unorganised sector, where adulteration is prevalent. The government aims to bring more producers and villages into the organised dairy system.
Connecting Villages to Cooperative System
Shah stated that the goal is to connect 75,000 new villages across the country to the cooperative system. This initiative will provide more benefits to farmers and help curb adulteration. A special test strip capable of identifying urea and other adulterants has been developed and will be fully operational within the next six months.
Revival of Mahanand Dairy
Shah informed that the state government's cooperation has accelerated the revival of Mahanand Dairy, with about 78% of the work completed. A new greenfield dairy project with a capacity of three lakh litres will be established. Signature parlours and a state-of-the-art building have been built in the Mahanand area at Goregaon.
New Projects and Expansion
A compressed biogas project will be set up in Aarey Colony, and a new Mahanand dairy plant will be established in Udgir. Additionally, a state-of-the-art dairy project will be developed in Butibori, Nagpur. NDDB is also increasing milk collection in 19 districts of Vidarbha and Marathwada. A state-of-the-art laboratory has been set up at Mahanand Dairy for testing milk and milk products.
