APEDA Identifies Banaskantha and Mathura as Clusters for Dairy Product Development

APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Product Export Development Authority) has established an Export Promotion Forum (EPF) for the promotion of dairy product exports and to address issues in the dairy sector.

According to a statement given to the media by APEDA Chairman M Angamuthu, the forum will help to accelerate trade in the dairy sector. It includes officials from various sectors like Ministry of Fisheries, Export Inspection Council, and Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

APEDA, in this regard, has picked two clusters – one in Banaskantha in Gujarat and the other in Mathura in Uttar Pradesh.

Dairy owners and farmers in both clusters will receive virtual training and assistance in capacity building to become dairy exporters, said the chairman.

Monetary aid

APEDA also has a financial assistance proposal for promoting dairy product exports. Approval from the central government is awaited. The proposal is intended towards helping dairy plants revamp their facilities and infrastructure and upgrade their quality standards, besides opening new avenues in the global dairy market.

In the words of the Chairman of APEDA, “The financial assistance will be provided towards development of infrastructure facilities, quality and market.”

Efforts by the Ministry

The Ministry is putting in efforts to strengthen infrastructure for producing, procuring, and processing quality milk, apart from marketing milk and its products through dairy development schemes.

The schemes are:

• National Programme for Dairy Development
• National Dairy Plan (Phase 1)
• Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme
• Support to Diary Cooperatives
• Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund

Development of infrastructure

The Ministry has come up with a scheme for infrastructure development under the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund. This is a part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, according to APEDA Chairman.

Under this scheme, investments by private companies, entrepreneurs, FPOs, and farmers are incentivized to set up dairy processing, animal feed plant and value-addition infrastructure, as per the Chairman’s statement.

The Chairman informs that APEDA is addressing issues of market access in association with the Ministry of Animal Husbandry. “Recently, we addressed the issue of aflatoxin in milk powder with Egypt and Saudi Arabia. They have now agreed to adhere to the Codex Standards,” he said.