Village Level Milk Collection Center – An Overview

Introduction

Milk collection is the first & foremost important activity for the dairy industry. It is quite clear that milk is produced daily in small amounts by a large number of farmers residing in the village. To make the milk collection process smooth, efficient, and viable, dairy establishes collection centers in the village which are known as Village Level Milk Collection Centers or VLCC.

VLCC becomes a point of contact between the farmers and the dairy and works as a small enterprise to carry out a range of activities beneficial both for the dairy and farmers associated with the VLCC. Although the VLCC is established for milk collection as its prime objective, it also enables the formation of a farmer’s group, which gives many advantages to both the dairy and the farmers.

In the present scenario, VLCC is not only for weighing, testing the quality of milk received, and making payments to farmers but also has become a means for organizing input services such as organizing the supply of inputs like animal feed, fodder, credit, and organizing livestock services like animal health, breeding, information, and financial services. The more activities milk producers undertake themselves, the more their income can rise. Above all the VLCC also becomes a means for employment for rural youth and generates additional income for their living.

Let us discuss an ideal VLCC, although it all depends on local conditions and infrastructure available in the village, it is necessary to know and keep the ideal VLCC in mind while selecting the location for smooth and easy operation. Let us discuss the major component of the VCC for better understanding.

(A) VLCC Building

 This is one of the major components for establishing a VLCC. Either the dairy selects an existing building in the village on lease or constructs a new building as per the requirement by the villager by paying the security deposit and making a lease agreement with the landowner.

• The location of the building should be preferable at one end of the village with well connected to the road and easily accessible to the vehicle coming for milk lifting. There should be ample free space in front of the building for vehicles to stand without hampering the public or other vehicle movements. It is seen in some centers the milk collecting vehicle is parked on the road itself, thus creating difficulties for other vehicles and common people’s movement, leading to dissatisfaction with the common public. On a few occasions, they even raise their voice against the VLCC.
• The Location should be such that it is easily accessed by all social segments especially women and small farmers.
• Size of the Building: The ideal size of the building is 25 ft x 15 ft x 13 ft (H) is ideal for a 2000 LPD collection center. The building should have a Rolling shutter of at least 10 ft wide and 10 ft high. There should be at least 01 / 02 windows apart from the window required for the exhaust of hot air from the condenser of the refrigeration system. Normally the size and location of the window required for hot air exhaust depend on the size of the condensing unit used for milk-chilling equipment.

While finalizing the building, provision for the following should be kept in mind,

• Sufficient space around the BMC to access for cleaning & maintenance.
• Platform preferably in “L” shape with washbasin, if possible, for keeping milk samples, testing equipment, and records.
• Provision for a small storeroom to store animal feed, medicines, chemicals, and some spares.
• The location of the building should be preferable as nearer as possible to the transformer or source of grid power so that there will be minimum/less voltage drop.
• There should not be any water logging nearby the building or on the approach road to the building.
• Sufficient potable water preferably own boring should be available inside the building premises for routine cleaning of the equipment and the premises daily, to maintain cleanness and hygiene.
• Necessary facilities such as common wastewater drain/soak pit for disposal of the wastewater and effluents generated from the cleaning of milk cans, milk testing equipment, and milk cooling equipment to comply with local statutory norms.
• In case Diesel Generator is installed for power backup, it is necessary to ensure it does not impact the environment & health of neighboring residents.

    (Ideal Building Layout for 2KLPD Village Level Milk Collection Center)

(B) Equipment

The pieces of machinery & equipment essential to handle milk collection, milk cooling & storing, and other activities related to milk collections are broadly listed under three categories.

1. Milk Weighing & Testing Equipment
2. Milk Cooling & Storing Equipment
3. Miscellaneous Items

01. Milk Weighing & Testing Equipment

a. Weighing Machine

The electronic weighing machine of platform type with a range of 0 – 120 Kg is suitable for a VLCC. There are many manufacturers available in the Indian market, but while procuring the weighing machine it is necessary to authenticate the quality of the product, after-sales spares & service backup provided by the company. It is also important that the weighing scale must be calibrated from time to time for accuracy. Nowadays almost all weighing machine used in the Dairy Industry has the provision of displaying the quantity either in Kg or Liter just by toggling a switch meant for the same. The device should also have an RS232/RS468 port to connect a data logger in case of dairy collect data online to their central portal through the web.

b. Milk Testing Equipment

Usually, the milk price paid to the farmers is based on the FAT & SNF content of the milk they delivered to the VLCC, so it becomes more essential while selecting the testing equipment. Accuracy in testing the parameters is of utmost importance for the Dairy as any malfunction in testing equipment either will break trust among the farmers or make a loss to the Dairy.

In general, nowadays, Automatic Milk Analyzer (widely called AMCU) is extensively used in VLCC which gives the instant value of FAT & SNF. The modern Analyzer and easily available internet, now enable both Farmers as well as Dairies to get the data instantly for better clarity & transparency.

Apart from the above few other accessories are essential for the VLCC. The list (click the link) as long as it contains many small items such as sample bottles, milk collection trays, cleaning brushes, chemicals, and much more depending upon the various tests Dairy intended to conduct at the milk collection points.

02. Milk Cooling & Storing Equipment

Bulk Milk Cooler, most popularly known as BMC is the most adopted equipment used in VLCC for milk cooling & storing. Availability in a wide range of capacities (starting from 500 LPD to 5000 LPD), ease of operation, and cleaning have made BMC the most used equipment for the purpose.

There is a long list of manufacturers of BMC in India, but a few of them have the major market shares IDMC, ISF, SERAP, Chadha Sales. DeLaval (which had its manufacturing unit in India earlier) is also marketing its BMC in India.

The Direct Expansion or DX Type is more popular than the Ice Bank or IBT Type due to its simplicity and ease of operation & maintenance.

In the majority of the village, the average milk collection is as low as 160 – 200 LPD which makes it not viable to invest in BMC, to address such an issue now Can Coolers are being developed by Promethean Spenta Technologies and Serap is getting popular and some of the Dairies are already adopting the equipment as it makes it possible for them to continue the milk collection without disrupting the can collection which they prefer to do for traceability and to cope with the variation in volume due to seasonal change.

Thermal Storage base BMCs are also getting popular as it eliminates the usage of Diesel Generator Set which is expensive and need more maintenance. The rise in cost and hassle in the handling of Diesel has now forced the Dairies to think twice before adopting the right solution.

A major part of the allotted fund for establishing the VLCC goes towards purchasing the cooling & storing equipment. So, it is very important to think twice before opting for the right solution for milk cooling & storing equipment both in terms of Capital Investment, Operative Expenses, and availability of Spares & Services.

03. Other Miscellaneous Items

Apart from the above, depending on the operation, the volume of milk collected from the VLCC some other equipment such as a Voltage Stabilizer, Milk Can, Milk Transfer Pump for Tanker Loading, Milk Hose, Detergent for Cleaning the equipment, etc. are essential and must be planned & considered while planning for a VLCC.

A set of notebooks for keeping the record, files & folders, wall posters displaying some important information regarding collection time, animal care, etc., and any other message that needs to pass to the farmers are required.

Safety devices such as Hand Gloves, Safety Boots, Fire Extinguishers, etc. also need to be considered while planning for the VLCC.

(C) Manpower

Manpower or the VLCC In-Charge is the most critical requirement of VLCC. No matter how well & professionally the VLCC is built, it all depends on the VLCC In-Charge and how he operates & maintains the center. Although it is difficult to generalize the expertise & skills required to run a VLCC, the following may be considered while selecting/employing a VLCC In-Charge.

A Center In-charge job is to collect and test the milk of individual farmers who came to the center for pouring milk. Once the milk is accepted by him it is his primary responsibility to ensure that the milk is stored safely until it is collected by the dairy for further transportation. He is also responsible for any spillage or spoilage, cleaning equipment, keeping the premises clean, opening the center on time, etc.

The Center In-charge should be capable to manage the farmers associated with the center on a day-to-day basis by exhibiting transparency, ethics & truthfulness. The person should know reading, and writing, as he must maintain certain records. He should be good at communicating the message from the dairy to the farmers. Apart from this, the person should have good health and personal hygiene. He must acquire/train thoroughly on skills in clean milk production, hygienic milk handling, and ensuring milk safety.

Conclusion

Milk Collection Center is a small enterprise providing employment opportunities to the local villager. It is the prime role of the Dairy to provide proper training to the center In-Charge from time to time to keep him/her updated with the policies of the dairy.

Check the webinar Video on my YouTube Channel