The Dairy Development Corporation has decided to invest Rs1 billion to set up a milk powder production plant in Hetauda under its milk distribution project.

The decision to operate the plant with a capacity to produce 60,000 litres of powder milk per day was made during a meeting of Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives of Province 3,

The detailed project report of the plant will be prepared within this current fiscal year, said Nirmal Gadal, information officer at the ministry.

The plant will be run under public-private-partnership model that includes federal, provincial and local governments, cooperatives and the private sector.

The meeting has also decided to form a five-member committee led by Lal Kumar KC, a dairy expert, to prepare the operational work procedure.

“The move is aimed at ending milk holidays,” said Narayan Prasad Gyawali, department head of the ministry.

Narayan Prasad Devkota, president at Central Dairy Cooperative Association, said the new plant would also increase dairy products and encourage farmers to focus on commercial animal husbandry.

“Once the plant is set up, it will generate employment opportunities as farmers can sell their milk on a daily basis,” he said. The economic benefits will reach the village level and also enable farmers to become entrepreneurs, he added.

“Farmers are concerned that the problem of wasting milk, popularly known as milk holiday, could appear if they do not get market access.”

Currently, 800,000 litres of milk are being collected daily through cooperatives in Nepal. Devkota said that the government needs to assure market access to farmers.

As Hetauda is the capital of Province 3, the plant being built there would enable cooperatives and farmers to bring milk from Mahottari, Sarlahi, Rautahat, Parsa, Chitwan, Nawalparasi and Bara districts.

According to Devkota, 300,000 litres of milk currently produced in Chitwan daily is being supplied to the market through cooperatives.

Meanwhile, the ministry has decided to establish milking parlor, the milking equipment and automation options to meet all daily farm needs through its annual programmes.

The provincial government has also decided to establish a milk analyser—a lab to analyse milk to check variables such as fat, non-fat solids, proteins, lactose and water content percentage.

“We have already invited proposals for the operation of dairy parlor and analyser,” said Gadal. As per the proposal, six dairy machines for the establishment of parlor would be procured, he said.