Saarc Oils & Fats Today

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Contents Chief EDITOR S. Jafar Naqvi Consulting Editors T.V. Satyanarayanan K Dharmarajan Editorial Co-ordinator: Syed M K News Editor : Anwar Huda General Manager: Lalitha V Rajan Production: Mohd. Iqbal Hyderabad 9248669027 mediatodayhyd@yahoo.com Mumbai 9702903993 mumbai.office@mediatoday.in Bangalore 9342185915 bangalore.office@mediatoday.in Pune 9881137397 pune@mediatoday.in Ahmedabad 9727866249 ADMN. & MARKETING OFFICE MEDIA TODAY PVT. LTD. T-30, 1st Fl., KHIRKI EXTN., MALVIYA NAGAR, NEW DELHI - 110017. PHONE : 91-11-26681671, 26682045 TELEFAX : 91-11-26681671 E-mail: MediaTodayMails@gmail.com ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION India: Rs.1000/-for 1 Year / Rs.1950/-for 2 Years Overseas: US$ 120 for 1 Year / US$ 230 for 2 Years Single Copy Cost in India : Rs. 60.00 Printed, Published & Owned by M.B. Naqvi, Printed at Everest Press, E-49/8, Okhla Industrial Area, Ph-II, New Delhi -110 020 and published from E-11/47 -A, New Colony, Hauz Rani, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi-110017 (India). Editor : S. Jafar Naqvi

Vol. 15..... ISSUE 5..... February 2013 ‘Saarc Oils & Fats Today’ T-30, Ist Floor, Khirki Extn., Malviya Nagar, New Delhi - 110017 E-mail : MediaTodayMails@gmail.com

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SAARC OILS & FATS Today, February 2013

v Editorial v Cover Story l 67th OTAI (WZ) Annual Convention & Expo Focus on latest developments in vegetable oil processing — Bureau Report v Oil Palm l Oil palm can end India’s edible oil problem — Ashok Gulati v l

Dairy Indian Dairy A White Revolution by Private Sector

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— R. G. Chandramogan

l Dairy Animals Keeping animals healthy in winter & building goat sheds — M. J. Prabu

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l ‘Daru Nahi Doodh Piyo’ Jaipur University launches ‘cheers’ campaign on New Year

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l Indian Dairy Industry Some Technology Initiatives in Processing — J. P. Gopal and S. S. Bhatnagar

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v Soya Milk Opportunities in Soya Milk and Soya Paneer — Dr. S. D. Kulkarni

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v GM Crops Traditional breeding out-performs genetic engineering — Bharat Dogra

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v Retail FDI in multi-brand retail Practical interpretation & relaxation of conditions — Paresh Parekh v Report SEA announces ‘Global Castor Conference 2013’ v

News

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Editorial

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n a welcome move, the Government has issued the much-awaited notification seeking to ally fears of those who are against consumption of genetically modified (GM) food. The Gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Food makes it mandatory for packaged food producers to disclose the ‘GM’ ingredients, if used any, in their products. “Every package containing genetically-modified food shall bear at the top of its principal display panel, the words ‘GM’, according to the notification under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities – 2nd Amendment) Rules 2012, which took effect from January 1 this year. Some 19 products have been listed – cereals, breads, biscuits and pulses among others – for which the new rules will be applicable. The implementation of GM food labelling would be done by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) under the Ministry of Health. FSSAI is in the process of framing rules for this purpose. The labelling rules should be construed as the first step that, to some extent, will meet the demands of Greenpeace and similar organisations opposing the entry of GM food products in the food chain, on the one hand, and would set at rest the fears of confused consumers caught in the crossfire of a raging debate on this issue, on the other. The notification has also come at an appropriate time when farm products emanating from countries like US, Canada, Argentina and Brazil, which account for the majority of GM crops grown around the world, have entered urban markets in a big way. In India, the decision on cultivation of Bt. brinjal having been put on hold, the only GM crop now permitted for cultivation is Bt. Cotton, now grown in more than 90 per cent of cotton area in the country. Though cotton is not a food crop, cottonseed oil is

edible, and is used for blending with other vegetable oils. If the oil derived from Bt. Cotton is being used by refineries, the consumer has a right to know. Moreover, India is a large importer of soya oil from countries that cultivate GM soyabean on a large scale. If the GM crop-derived oil is being distributed to the public, or, if this oil is being used as a frying medium in products galore that are on sale in the markets, labelling offers some solace to those who are averse to consumption. India having not taken a firm stand on the GM crop issue, the debate on it goes on ceaselessly. Interestingly, organic farming is taking big leaps in India, which, according to figures released by Worldwatch Institute, has more than 400,000 organic farmers. The country leads the pack of globally-certified farmers of this ilk, followed by Uganda, which has over 185,600 organic farmers and Mexico 126,800. In all, 37 million hectares are under organic farming around the world. On the other side of the divide, an agro-biotech expert from Cornell University in the US claims that availability of insect-resistant Bt. Crops are playing an important role in bringing down globally the use of harmful insecticide and pesticide sprays that damage the environment. He argues that there is a strong case to bring down the use of harmful agro-chemical sprays by adopting the biotechnology route to growing crops, particularly fruits and vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, brinjal, onions and tomatoes. It is noteworthy that virtually coinciding with the Indian decision to place a moratorium on Bt. brinjal, some time back, China had given the go-ahead for Bt. Rice, without any reservations. Any case, with GM crop debate in this country showing no signs of abatement, let the consumer decide whether to have these products or not. Labelling will provide some help.

Comments are welcome at: MediaTodayMails@gmail.com Views expressed by individuals and contributors in the magazine are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of “SAARC Oils & Fats Today” editorial board. The magazine does not accept any responsibility of any direct, indirect or consequential damage caused to any party due to views expressed by any one or more persons in the trade. All disputes are to be referred to Delhi Jurisdiction only. .....Editor

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Cover Story

67th OTAI (WZ) Annual Convention & Expo

Focus on the latest developments in vegetable oil processing — Bureau Report

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il Technologists’ Association of India (OTAI-Western Zone) organized the 67th Annual Convention, International Conference and Expo on the latest technology in vegetable oil processing, in Mumbai, during 23-24 December, 2012. The Conference was attended by over 350 delegates from India and abroad. The

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foreign delegates came from USA, UK, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Japan and other countries. Inaugural Address Dr. Deland Myers, President of American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS), was the Chief Guest and inaugurated the

SAARC OILS & FATS Today, February 2013

function. In his Inaugural speech, Dr. Myers stressed that Vegetable Oil is an important constituent of foods for healthy living, and Vegetable Oil processing is one of the largest industry segments in the world including India. Innovation in the production of oil seeds, improvement in the process efficiency and environmental protection


Covery Story Postal Presentation Research scholars and Scientists from various institutions had also put up postal presentations, and there were 22 such excellent presentations during the Conference. Exhibition by the technology providers of vegetable oil industry was well received by the delegates and with the interaction with the exhibitors they obtained solutions to their routine problems. are of utmost importance in today’s world, he said. He also showered words of praise on OTAI-WZ for taking up all these issues. Technical Sessions The Conference had Five Technical Sessions spread over two days, followed by the panel discussion. The session had a range of interesting topics including new solutions, automation, energy conservation, vegetable oil modification using blending of oils and ways and means of increasing efficiency of oil milling units

in general and palm oil mill in particular. Experts from India and Abroad presented the technical papers and shared their expertise with the delegates. Panel discussion, chaired by N.B. Godrej, Chairman & Managing Director, Godrej Industries Ltd, was the highlight of the seminar with all the delegates very actively participating in the discussion. The very fact that all the delegates were present for the panel discussion and thereafter the valedictory function itself indicates the interest shown by the delegates in the technical deliberation over the two days.

Awards During the International Conference, N.B. Godrej was presented with OTAI LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2012. M.K. Janardan, Chairman & Managing Director, Japro Engineering Pvt. Ltd, who is also the President, OTAIWZ, was presented with the prestigious J.G.KANE MEMORIAL AWARD for the year 2012. Organizers of the seminar, working in association with the event management company M/s.Event Trendz, left no stones unturned to make the event a memorable success. n

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Oil Palm

Oil palm can end India’s edible oil problem by Ashok Gulati

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ndians love their food when it is deep fried in oil, be it their favorite samosa, vada, jalebi or gulabjamun. But the source of this oil is seldom known. Probability is more than half that these are being fried in imported oils. In this context, it may be worth noting that, based on data collated from The Solvent Extractors’ Association of India, during November 2011 to October 2012 (oil year), India imported 10 million tonnes (mt) of edible oils costing 56,295 crore. This is the highest amount ever imported by India and comprises about half of India’s total consumption of edible oils. The cost of these imports has gone up by almost 380% in the last six years, up from 14,709 crore in 2006-07 (see Graph; data collated from Ministry of Commerce shows even faster increase). This has contributed to widening the current account deficit, and today, it exceeds all agri-imports of India by a wide margin. The projections of demand and supply of agri-products also show that the biggest challenge of Indian agriculture will be in producing enough edible oils at globally competitive rates to meet its rising demand. If one were to produce this 10 mt of additional oil through existing oilseeds crop complex, one needs about 30 million hectares (m ha) of additional area under oilseeds at current levels of productivity. Can one afford to divert this much area from any other crops, say from foodgrains, which occupy more than 60% of India’s gross cropped area (GCA), without sacrificing our food security? The obvious answer is ‘No’. That means to increase domestic production of edible oils, either we have to increase 8

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the productivity of existing oilseeds, and/or find a suitable oil crop, which can give high oil content on per hectare basis, and expand its cultivation, and also bring about greater efficiency in processing of seeds into oil. Currently, oilseeds occupy about 27 m ha of GCA, with soyabean at 10 m ha, and mustard and groundnut each occupying roughly 6-7 m ha, and the remaining 3-4 m ha goes to all other oilseeds. But soyabean is more a protein (meal) crop than an oil crop as the beans contain only 17-18% oil, while groundnut has 40% oil-to-kernel ratio (and 28% to pod ratio), and traditional mustard contains about 33% oil. The productivity of each of these dominant oilseeds crops hovers between 1-1.3 tonnes/ha, although soyabean is basically rainfed, while groundnut has 20% and mustard about 75% irrigation cover. But in terms of oil content on per ha basis, soyabean gives 234 kg, groundnut 364 kg, and mustard 430 kg. The good news, however, is that some private companies (e.g. Pioneer) have developed hybrids in mustard, which cannot only give yields up to 2.6 tonne/ha, but also raise its oil content from the current 33% to 44%. This makes mustard the most promising seasonal crop to augment edible oil supplies. Accordingly, CACP recommended 50% increase in MSP over the last two years bringing them to import parity levels. This sets mustard prices in relation to other rabi crops right, and if one can reduce the marketing risk of farmers, this should incentivise them to adopt better hybrids, augmenting productivity and area under mustard. De-reserving processing of mustard (and groundnut) from small scale reservation will also help augment the recovery of oil through more modernised plants. However, all this still cannot bridge the wide gap in domestic demand and supply of edible oils. The ultimate answer to India’s edible oil problem lies in oil palm, as it is the only plant that can give 4 tonnes of oil/ha basis. Oil palm has a gestation period of four to six years, starts yielding some fruit in the fourth year and attains full maturity in the sixth year, and thereafter it gives fruit for the next 27 years. Can India grow oil palm in a globally competitive environment? CACP looked into this in a report submitted to the government, and found that India can compete with Indonesia and Malaysia so long as palm oil prices do not drop below $800/tonne. The projections do show that palm oil prices are likely to remain above $800/tonne, as any drop below that cut-off point promotes its usage in bio-diesel and pushes up its price. n


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Dairy

Indian Dairy

A White Revolution

by Private Sector — R. G. Chandramogan

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ndia produced over 127 million tonnes (mt) of milk in 2011-12, as against 58 mt recorded for 1992-93. The base year is important, for that was when the dairy industry was de-licensed and the private sector allowed to freely establish capacities, subject to registration and other regulatory requirements under the Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992. Till that happened, the country hardly had any large organised private dairies, barring the odd Nestle India or Milkfood Ltd. But after 1992, a host of small and medium corporates entered the business. The New Entrants Today, apart from the two abovementioned names, there are at least seven other private sector players — Hatsun 10

Agro, Heritage Foods, Tirumala Milk Products, VRS Foods, Sterling Agro Industries, Dynamix Dairy Industries and Bhole Baba Dairy Industries — each handling 10 lakh litres per day (llpd) or more of milk. In addition, there are a host of others — including Parag Milk Foods, Prabhat Dairy, Chitale Dairy, Dodla Dairy, Creamline Dairy Products, SMC Foods, Modern Industries and Gopaljee Dairy Foods — doing between 5 and 10 llpd. In 2011-12, cooperative dairies put together procured an average 280 llpd of milk, whereas the organised private industry, covering those handling 50,000 litres and upwards, would have accounted for 350 llpd or more. That works out to a 55:45 ratio in favour of private dairies. The private sector having overtaken the

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cooperatives today is a fact implicitly admitted even by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). To quote from its Annual Report of 2010-11 (page 8): “It is estimated that the capacity created by them (private dairies) in the last 15 years equals that set up by cooperatives in over 30 years”. Without Handouts The remarkable thing about this growth of private dairies is that it has come about without any subsidies or Operation Flood programme support. The processing capacities created have largely been on the strength of risk capital and entrepreneurial initiative — and with hardly any investment from multinationals! As regards the cooperatives, the NDDB data shows that out of their total average milk procurement of 287.06 lakh kg per day in 2011-12, more than 51 per cent was accounted for by two federations: Gujarat’s Amul (104.5) and Karnataka’s Nandini (42.77). In 2000-01, their share was only 39 per cent, which points to cooperatives facing virtual extinction or stagnation in most other States, especially the Hindi heartland or ‘Cow Belt’. Two things emerge from this analysis. The first is that the country’s milk output has more than doubled since 1992-93. Coming on a higher base, it is a spectacular achievement — no less compared to the increase from 22.2 mt to 58 mt registered between 1970-71 and 1992-93. That, of course, coincided with Operation Flood, launched in 1970. But unlike the Operation Flood programme built around cooperatives, much of the production growth and creation of fresh processing capacities after 1992-93 has been powered by the private sector. Step-motherly Treatment What is unfortunate, though, is the refusal of our policymakers to acknowledge this fact. The contribution by organised private dairies to the recent growth of India’s dairy sector is yet to be fully recognised, leave alone incorporated into the official policymaking framework. It is precisely the inability to reconcile


Dairy to the new reality that explains why the corporate sector has been left out of the National Dairy Plan (NDP) — a Central scheme aimed at increasing the productivity of our milch animals to keep up with rising domestic milk demand. This plan, being implemented by NDDB, envisages an investment of Rs 2,242 crore during 2011-12 to 2016-17. The NDP covers only cooperatives or so-called producer companies, and not private dairies wanting to invest in backend extension and development activity — genetic upgradation of the cows or buffaloes being milked, improving fodder and feeding practices, teaching farmers to take better care of the health and nutrition of their animals, and promoting selective mechanisation to save on labour. There is no logic to exclude the private sector from any plan that seeks to make dairies work closer with their farmersuppliers. Some of us already do it: My company today procures 20 llpd of milk, roughly a quarter of which comes from Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri, two backward districts of Tamil Nadu that were once Naxaliteprone as well. Yet, the official indifference to private dairies extends even to day-to-day policy decision-making. Take the ban on export of milk powder and casein imposed twice in the last five years, alongside permitting import of up to one lakh tonnes of powder at zero duty. The export ban especially impacted private dairies, who had worked hard to develop export markets only to find this window closing all of a sudden. And what has been the result? Only the other day, the Government declared that cooperatives alone are saddled with 1.12 lakh tonnes of powder stocks, equivalent to more than 40 days of their total milk procurement. To bail them out, the Centre is now giving a subsidy of Rs 20/kg for converting the entire surplus powder into milk, which can then be re-processed back into powder to enable longer shelf-life. Wouldn’t it have made better sense, instead, to extend the same subsidy on exports, so that surplus powder — whether

The contribution by organised private dairies to the recent growth of India’s dairy sector is yet to be fully recognised, leave alone incorporated into the official policymaking framework produced by cooperatives or private dairies — goes out of the country? That would, then, induce dairies to procure more milk rather than turning farmers down. You can’t really blame dairies for resorting to that, when skimmed milk powder prices have collapsed from Rs 180 to Rs 140/kg in the last one year. A New Dairy Vision We desperately need a new vision for Indian dairying today that takes into account all its different stakeholders,

including private dairies. All of us will have to work together to develop this sector. Milk, after all, is one produce that is easily marketable and is a great source of liquidity for meeting the day-to-day consumption needs of rural households. Its price is relatively stable and doesn’t spring surprises compared to the volatility exhibited by most other crops. Also, it is produced in almost every State, irrespective of the agro-climatic regime, and we have — thanks to the original model developed by Verghese Kurien and tailored to our conditions — systems for collecting milk from millions of fragmented producers. A new vision for the Indian dairy sector would mean doing away with knee-jerk export bans or skewed policies benefiting only cooperatives, such as doling out a Rs 2/litre subsidy on milk procurement (which the Karnataka Government does) or a Rs 20/kg reprocessing subsidy on powder (as recently announced by the Centre). Neither consumer nor farmers benefit from policies that only protect and preserve inefficient cooperative monopolies. But is our Government ready to accept that? n (The author is Chairman and Managing Director of Hatsun Agro Product Ltd.)

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Dairy

Dairy Animals

Keeping animals healthy in winter & building goat sheds — M. J. Prabu

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hough reasons such as water shortage, shrinking space, maintenance expense, and low price for milk at the cooperative milk societies are some reasons attributed to the decline in cattle rearing among several farmers in southern states, in Haryana, farmers have been able to cope with these problems. “In Haryana, presently there are 6,000 co-operative milk societies out of which 1,300 units are being entirely run by women. In our State, unlike in southern parts of the country, cattle and land are not directly linked. Even those who possess no land rear 2-3 buffaloes or cows and supply the milk to the societies and earn a decent income,” says Dr. Rajinder Singh, Sr Extension Specialist (Animal Sciences), Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and animal Sciences. Extension Centre, Rohtak, Haryana. Two categories The Livestock farming systems in the State can be broadly divided into two types: Buffalo based and cow/crossbred cows farming systems. Milk societies in Haryana pay Rs. 28.35/litre for buffalo and Rs 22.95 for cow’s milk. If the milk contains 10 per cent fat with 8.8 SNF (saturated non fat), then the farmer gets about Rs. 42 per litre. More the fat content higher the price. The cooperative system has launched an attractive system for milk suppliers. If SNF is extra then farmers are paid 10 paisa extra. Buffalo breeds have provide a higher 12

fat percent (6-7 percent) than cow’s milk (3-4 percent). To maintain optimum level of fat and SNF, several farmers have been trained by the extension department of the University to particularly maintain this level during winter, because during the cold season temperature falls below zero degree, badly affecting the health of the dairy animals and their milk yield. Affects production During this season many animals often refuse to eat, become feverish and pneumonitic. This affects the milk production, health and reproduction of the animal. Normal cow and buffalo body temperature ranges between 101-102 degree Fahrenheit and suitable ambient temperature is 65-75 degree F.

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Severe cold surroundings result in increased energy loss, which has to be compensated by giving extra calorie-rich feed and special care. Breed, nutrition, age, state of lactation, gestation effects and management are the main factors affecting SNF and fat percentage. Nutrition, especially balanced rations, fortified and supplemented with protein ingredients like whole cotton seed or cakes, becomes important. Rations containing about 17 per cent fibre in the animal feed are also helpful to increase fat percentage in milk. Concentrate mixture should comprise grains (40 per cent), oil cakes (32 per cent), brans (25per cent), mineral mixture (2per cent) and common salt (1 per cent). Apart from this the extra energy-rich


Dairy grains at approximately 0.8 per cent of body weight should be fed to counter the stress of cold for maintaining normal milk production and other activities. Water availability Water, possibly lukewarm, should be clean and available four times a day at their drinking time. “In the morning, the quantity of milk is more when compared to the milk produced in the evening and the percent of fat is the opposite,” explains Dr. Rajinder Singh. Rohtak, Hisar, Bhiwani, Jind, Jhajjar and Sonepat districts produce fodder crops, cereals, and ultimately crop residues. Buffalo is the sole milch animal in these regions. Contrary to this, some rain-fed areas like Mahendergarh, Rewari, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Mewat districts — have less crop residues. No difference Here the animal feed depends mainly on dry fodder, compound feed and seasonal greens. But the milk production does not seem to show any big difference. Haryana is supporting cattle farmers (both cow and buffalo) to take up crossbred rearing for milk production by providing imported semen for breed improvement and development at their doorsteps. Farmers are also made aware about the importance of conserving green grass into hay and silage for making them available round the year. Silage “Silage is a simple method where the grass or dried straws are packed tightly in plastic barrels or cement cisterns and the containers closed tightly. After some weeks this can be used as feed for the animals. “Sometimes a small amount of jaggery can be diluted and sprinkled over the silage and then closed inside the barrel to be used later. We find that the animals love the taste of this feed,” he says. Till date the University has trained more than 800 unemployed youth, women, and farmers on scientific dairy farming as a method of increasing milk productivity and self employment. Building easy goat sheds More than maintenance, building a

housing structure for farm animals poses a challenge for farmers. “Unlike a dairy farm where some cattle are kept tied under a covered structure, in goat rearing the animals are predominantly kept in the open. “The herd is usually kept inside a circular ring like formation made from locally available material. Though this may serve the purpose for the time being, it cannot offer protection against snake bites or provide shelter during heavy rains,” says Dr. Abdul Kareem, Programme Coordinator, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kannur, Kerala Agricultural University”. Shed Design “Our research team, bearing this in mind, has developed an easy-to-assemble and dismantle goat shed designed from galvanized iron (GI) frame and fibre-reinforced plastic. The credit for developing the unit goes to Dr T. Giggin, Assistant Professor from the KVK. The shed, with an area of 100 sq ft, can accommodate 10 to 20 goats, and is strong enough to support the weight of the animals,” he says. The unit can be assembled by combining a few frames in easy steps, and when the need arises, can be dismantled, easily transported, and reassembled in another place. Provisions for adult and kid feeders and automatic water drinking units are inbuilt. The animals can be reared exclusively inside the shed without grazing thus reducing manpower requirement. A fibre-reinforced plastic floor ensures that the goats inside do not get wet or dirty. As a result the animals are devoid of bad body smell caused by wetting and dampening by urine common in conventional sheds. The animals are at ease during extreme summer or during winter since the plastic floor is resistant to heating and cooling.

Cleaning Is Easy As the holes for excreta are small and of uniform size, the legs especially of kids will not get caught in the gaps as seen in structures with uneven gaps in the floor. It can be cleaned easily. The floor made of inter-lockable units can be taken out separately and cleaned. The unit is priced at Rs.1 lakh. “Though the initial cost may look high, in the long run it will prove beneficial since it is built to last for more than 15 years. A similar structure made with locally available materials would cost nearly 60 per cent less, but last only up to two years,” says Dr. Kareem. As this structure is a combination of different pieces, it is easy to shift from one place to other; hence farmer can pursue farming even if he/she is relocated due to various reasons. The KVK had received a lot of inquiries from goat farmers. One of the advantages of the model shed is that it could be reassembled and reinstalled. As this structure is a combination of different pieces, it is easy to shift from one place to other; hence farmer can pursue farming even if he/she is relocated due to various reasons. Durable Materials And thanks to durable materials like galvanized Iron and fibre reinforced plastic, the structure can withstand adverse climatic conditions and does not require heavy maintenance. A similar structure made using local materials can cost nearly 60 per cent less, but lasts only for 2-3 years. The low cost infrastructure lacks durability and the cost involved becomes a dead and unrecoverable expenditure. “Also, the support lent by the financial institutions turns out to be a waste and totally unrecoverable within a matter of one to two years. Resale Value In the event of quitting enterprise farming by a farmer, as this is saleable, there will be another person to purchase it and pursue farming so that in the long term farming is sustainable and transferable,” he says.

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Dairy

Daru Nahi Doodh Piyo

Jaipur University launches ‘cheers’ campaign on New Year

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midst the glossy hoardings and ads luring the city with attractive packages for gala New Year eve, fun and frolic, a hoarding outside the University of Rajasthan in Jaipur offers something different to usher in the New Year. In response to the open invitation, hundreds of students make a beeline at the university gate and say ‘cheers’ with a glass of milk. Daru nahin, doodh ke saath karen nav varsh ki shuruat (start the new year not with liquor but milk) — urge the hoarding put up by the Asthma Care Society and Rajasthan Yuva Chhatra Sansthan. Both the organisations had started the ‘milky tradition’ in the Pink City about a decade back. The idea was to motivate youngsters to abstain from liquor and encourage them to adopt healthy options, says Dharmveer Katewa, associated with the Asthma Care Society. The Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg is an education hub since the university and its constituent colleges are situated here. A decade back, it was full of frenzied revellers, who often clashed with each other or met with accidents due to drunken driving, Dharmveer claims. “We wanted to create awareness and convey the message that drinking is not the only way to start the New Year. If the students make it a New Year resolve to say ‘no’ to alcohol, it would be good for them,” he adds as he feels that excessive consumption of liquor on the particular night results in unruly scenes n the campus. So we decided to start a symbolic tradition by offering hot milk sprinkled with dry fruits and sugar — served in kulhars (earthen glasses) — at the university gate. 14

The idea of promoting doodh instead of daru did not instantly interest the youngsters however. The organisers had to initially plead with passers-by, acquaintances and friends to join the camp The idea of promoting doodh instead of daru did not instantly interest the youngsters however. The organisers had to initially plead with passers-by, acquaintances and friends to join the camp and drink milk. But their efforts and patience paid off eventually. Now even the students’ union actively participates in the milk distribution programme. Both the organisations had started the programme with their own resources or contributions from friends. But for the last three years, Saras Dairy, one of the biggest milk cooperative societies in Rajasthan,

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has been supplying milk for the event. Last year, 20,000 glasses of milk were distributed, recalls Mahendra Sharma of Yuva Chhatra Sansthan. The Saras Dairy provided 7,000 litres of milk for the New Year eve programme this year. “Daru nahin doodh is a modest attempt to create awareness amongst the youth to abstain from drinking,” Mahendra says, claiming that both the university administration and the police admit that there is a remarkable improvement in the atmosphere on the campus after the milk campaign. Though everyone knows liquor consumption is not good for health, still the youth have a false notion that liquor is inevitable for the New Year celebrations. We are trying to break the myth,” he adds. The milky campaign has already showed positive results with 40 liquor shops in Jaipur putting up the banner of Daru nahin doodh this year. Many residential colonies also have started holding the programme in their respective localities. n


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Dairy

Indian Dairy Industry

Some Technology Initiatives in Processing — J. P. Gopal and S. S. Bhatnagar IDMC Ltd. Udyognagar, Gujarath E mail: idmc@idmc.coop

India is world’s highest milk producing country since last several years with the present annual milk production placed at 120 million tonnes. Not more than 15% of the total milk production is processed and converted in to various milk products including packaged milk in the organized sector. Hardly 10% of total milk is pasteurized and is available in various packaging forms with more than 95% in flexible pouches. Other products include milk powders, ghee, table butter, cheese, lactose, milk based beverages, casein and indigenous sweet meat. The mechanization and state of the art technology is minimal in processing of most common products like pasteurized milk, butter, ghee, ice cream and indigenous milk products. 16

Indian Dairy Industry – The present state Indian Dairy Industry has come a long way with production of milk having increased ten times in forty years. We are a diverse industry with processing plants ranging from a milk handling capacity of few thousand to a million and above LPD. We still have a gap between the milk production in winter and summers with the production in summers getting reduced to less than 50% in many areas when compared to peak procurement in the flush season. We have a missing cold chain right from the production place milk to consumer. The milk products in India are connected to ethnic character and taste which varies across the country resulting in requirements of location specific consumer attributes. Consumers also look for specific requirements like lactose

SAARC OILS & FATS Today, February 2013

tolerance, cholesterol free foods, pro biotic foods, sugar free foods and so on. As per the market trend and increasing concerns on food safety, the focus of consumer is shifting on quality of raw milk from its compositional quality to food safety. This needs healthy milk animals, bred and handled in clean and healthy surroundings, using hygienic farming practices, having low bacterial count till it reaches processing Plant/ BMC. We need to take timely preventive and corrective actions at various stages viz. – at the farm, at the collection centre, during chilling and transportation stage, at the dairy reception dock, processing and product manufacturing stage and during post-production stage up to the consumer level. Primary focus shall be to check and reduce the growth of bacterial contamination at all stages. Our challenge to develop appropriate technologies emerges from the above


Dairy requirements. We need to continuously improve our value propositions in milk collection, processing and product manufacturing, packaging and distribution to present a cost effective solution to the processors for the delight of our consumers. Dairy Industry – The mission India’s largest dairy development project Operation Flood was taken up with a mission to make milk available in sufficient quantity of satisfactory quality at reasonable price to the consumer. The Operation Flood program concluded in 1996. The Indian Dairy Industry should now have a mission to ensure that: Milk is hygienically handled and cooled to required level within three hours of milking and enough systems are in place to ensure timely payments and in puts to primary producer. Milk is processed with customized environmental friendly cost effective technology appropriate to our needs. Making available quality milk and milk products at bench mark prices in adequate quantity and of satisfactory quality and required attributes to our consumers all the time. In the words of Dr. Kurien “The future of India’s dairy industry will have to be built on quality and quality alone. The Indian dairy must have the latest modern technology for milk processing and product manufacture. We must define the standards necessary to achieve and maintain world – class quality” Dr. V. Kurien, father of India’s White Revolution – Dairy India 2007. It is responsibility of the technologist and engineers to support the user industry by giving them appropriate technology solutions to achieve the mission. There should be a continuous feed back channel between industry and the engineering enterprises and academic institutions for mutual benefit. The financial institutions and government funds should allocate separate budgets on improvement initiatives to promote and inspire professionals to work towards these goals.

Some technology initiatives The work on many fronts related to improvement in equipment and processes are under way in the industry. This paper discusses a few of them listed below briefly for the benefit of the industry. The authors can be contacted to know further details on these subjects as well as for solutions to any of the needs which the user industry may require. UHT milk in aseptic pouch UTH milk has a singular and distinct advantage of not requiring any cold chain and depending upon the initial milk quality and type of package can present a shelf life from 2 to 6 months under ambient conditions. Both the processing and packaging add to the consumer significantly and hence for many years to come it would still remain a product to be chosen on the basis of need, affordability and specific requirement. UHT milk is trying to establish itself in the Indian market but so far the success has been limited due to not very consistent and proper quality of milk, higher cost of packaging material and non aggressive marketing resulting from uncertainty of sustained production and cost benefit analysis. Nevertheless the UHT market is estimated to increase at a CAGR of 2.2% in emerging markets like India, China, due to the factors like consumers awareness on health and wellness; busy and stressful life; desires to enjoy life and growing trends of economization. The UHT milk is principally marketed in rigid form of packing i.e. Box carton or in flexible form of packing i.e. Paper lined Pouches. Common brands that are available in the market are Amul, Vijaya, Aavin, Saras, Verka & Nandini in the cooperative sector and Nestle and Britania in the private sector. All these brands put together constitute not above 3% of total package milk sold in India out of which more than 80% is in Box Cartons. Amongst UHT milk, the flexible form of packaging is going to take a definitive proportion of the market given the advantages of better shelf life and value added product. The flexible format of aseptic package could be paper lined Pouches or Multi layer LDPE film which is an upgraded version of film used for pasteurized

milk. Amongst the two forms available i.e. Paper lined and Multi Layer film, it is expected that the later would virtually take over the market due to the potential of local manufacturing of film initially and later on indigenous manufacturing of aseptic filling machines. It is expected that the UHT milk in flexible form would find its own market segment given the advantages of higher shelf life, select consumer band and the potential of making available liquid milk in milk deficient areas. Aseptic Pouch Installation – Plant configuration Typically an aseptic pouch milk plant would comprise of a sterilizer and an aseptic pouch machine. Aseptic Sterilizer UHT processing can be done in both direct as well as indirect heating systems. Indian industry has both types of systems present. Indirect heating system is preferred owing to economy in steam consumption and lower operating costs. Tubular heat exchangers are more preferred. The heat exchangers could be straight tube type or spiral and patented design. The straight tube design is not as flexible and versatile when compared to spiral patented design where in regeneration up to 86% and versatility in terms of processing juices with large fiber contents are possible. The operating cost

February 2013, SAARC OILS & FATS TODAY

17


Dairy in helical design in 30 per cent lower when compared to straight tube and turn down capacities up to 25 per cent are possible. This turn down in capacity is achieved in a running plant and also the holding time is maintained to a large extent by innovative design. Although difficult to inspect the heating is more uniform and higher flow rates and high temperatures are possible. The plants as built are very rugged and there are installations as old as 35 years. Amongst indirect type sterilizer therefore the helical design has proved to be the best in the world. There are seven to eight installations of helical design working in India. Aseptic Pouch packing Machines The aseptic pouch machines are much similar to conventional Pasteurized pouch packing machine in FFS format except that they have a packaging film sterilization section and ensure filling in aseptic environment. They have a large potential to be built locally. There are several different package forms that are used in aseptic UHT processing cans, paperboard/plastic/ foil/plastic laminates, flexible pouches, thermoformed plastic containers, flow molded containers, bag-in-box and bulk totes. The aseptic pouch built out of multilayer film with carbon black and EVOH is a very promising alternative. The packaging film could have three, five or seven layers. The aseptic packaging of UHT milk in flexible film could lead to a shelf life of twelve weeks which is adequate for India’s consumer needs. It is 30 to 40 per cent cheaper than the other type of flexible aseptic pouch available in the market. Two limitations are often cited for UHT milk in flexible package form – Lack of transport worthiness and the perception of consumer of it being very near to pasteurized milk. Lack of transport worthiness is largely untrue since China is a living example of milk in flexible pouches traveling long distances from 350 to 500 Km. the solution to the later issue is keeping the price close to pasteurized milk initially.

UHT milk processing The industry has to prepare itself to meet the challenges of the growing UHT milk markets. Some of the initiatives which have to be taken up both by the user industry and the engineering industry are listed below: The industry should be prepared to invest and also that initial risk to experiment with and introduce alternative UHT milk packages like flexible pouches, HDPE and PET bottles. It should also gear itself up to introduce alternate suppliers in the market to prevent monopolistic situations. This can be a real platform to develop competitive environment. The UHT equipments are capital intensive. In order to derive maximum use and to obtain economy of scales, it would be necessary to expand the use of plant for milk as well as juices as also to processes many varieties as per the requirements of the market. Such models are available universally and can be easily adopted. Thirty years back, even the pasteurizers were imported. Today the local engineering industry has graduated to minimize imports to very specific and

Need and initiatives required in 18

SAARC OILS & FATS Today, February 2013

“The future of India’s dairy industry will have to be built on quality and quality alone. The Indian dairy must have the latest modern technology for milk processing and product manufacture.” – Dr. V. Kurien

critical equipment. Both the academic institution and the industry should join together to indigenize UHT processing and packaging equipment to minimize the import content and give the benefit to the users. The global leaders in this segment need to be attracted to give technology and develop the local relationship. The academic institutions must work on product development in UHT format for milk, milk based beverages, juices and blend products. The areas of work should include innovating new processes, packaging materials and packages to suitably appropriate the technology to our specific requirements. The institutions like NDDB, Government of India and big cooperative dairies should take initiative to promote these endeavors and set up the plants including vigorous promotion of products of UHT format. Transportation of Milk – deriving economy by concentration Large Dairies transport Pasteurized and Pre-standardized milk below 2 Deg. Centi to long distances in road milk tankers and rail milk tankers. The destination is generally the packaging station where this milk is re-pasteurized and packed in consumer packages for onward distribution. The idea behind transfer of pre standardized milk is to avoid standardization at the packaging point to minimize the process equipment as well as the risk associated with improper standardization. Also large dairies have automated state of the art facilities to perform standardization of various variants with minimum loss due to over composition with no risk of under composition in the resultant milk. Except for full cream milk and standardized milk, transportation of low fat variants like toned, double toned and skim milk put a high tax on transportation cost as the value of the product being transported drop significantly. Pre concentration of milk saves on transportation cost in direct proportion to the concentration due to reduce volume. A two fold concentration would therefore bring down the cost of transportation to half with also benefits in costs due to less numbers of transport vehicles to be CIP cleaned and maintained. Many dairies have been hither


Dairy to concentrating milk by vacuum evaporation in the standard milk evaporation plants. These plants are designed for producing skim milk powder and whole milk powder and / or dairy whiteners. Milk while concentration in a vacuum evaporation plant remains in the higher temperature bracket exceeding 60 Degree Centigrade for long residence times thereby imparting cooked flavour to milk. This impairs the sensory score and hence though cost saving with hardly any capital investment this practices is not ideal and preferred one. There is a solution to design the evaporator for low heat powder processing where the temperature profile of product across the evaporator is kept lower. The same is still to be tried probably due to constraints in operation of such an evaporator for conventional powders. Also may be that the cooked flavour shall not get completely eliminated in this option. One of the possible techniques for concentration of milk is using a membrane filtration process. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is the tightest possible membrane process for liquid / liquid separation. Water is in principle the only material passing through the membrane with rejection of essentially all dissolved and suspended material. Ideally the reverse RO membrane to be selected should perform following functions: a) It should not allow significant quantities of salts, lactose and protein particles in the permeate. The quantities what so ever carried away with permeate should not affect the taste, salt balance and other relevant parameters in retentate milk. b)

c)

The module should run continuously for longer periods between two cleanings and the consumption of utilities and cleaning and other consumables should be at optimum level.

The membranes should be long lasting and rugged and their replacement cost should be affordable in the over all economics of operation. To achieve the above objectives, it is established that the feed milk should be first separated. The skim milk stream at a temperature not exceeding 55 Deg should

pass through the RO module so as to get concentrated. The stream of cream coming out of the separator is then mixed at the out let of RO module through a static mixer. The skim milk while getting concentrated also concentrates the bacteria load and hence it is necessary to pasteurize the resultant product before chilling and bulk transportation. The static mixer serves the purpose of mixing cream back in to skim milk concentrate for applications where homogenization is discouraged. In case the milk after reconstitution is required to be homogenized as a market milk product, the homogenization can be performed in the RO process module itself. As per the present practice the feed milk to RO module shall be prestandardized and pasteurized milk where bacteria count would be low enough. The concentrated milk can be brought to original composition at destination by just adding process water. Raw milk can also be straight away concentrated in RO module if initial high bacteria loads are reduced to acceptable levels by some economically viable treatment. The simplest way could be to pasteurize the milk and bring down the bacteria content to below 50000 SPC. This pre pasteurized milk can form the feed to the RO module with in built pasteurization facility. Double pasteurization so occurring is admissible as per local rules and hence can be adhered to. Bactofugation is another option and is recommended only if a bactofuge already exists in a process plant due to high capital cost. Yet another process configuration could include placing the RO module and separation in the pasteurized milk circuit of a pasteurizer feed with raw milk. The skim concentrate stream with cream can be consequently taken into a specially designed regenerative heat exchanger to perform pasteurization on line. This

technique could be used wherever it is intended to concentrate plain raw milk. As per the present practice however only pre pasteurized and standardized milk shall be available for concentration in a typical RO module. What ever be the configuration selected the ultimate requirement of the processor to get original milk composition by just adding water is achievable. Only a very in significant loss of salts and lactose shall occur in the reconstituted milk but without any change as far as sensory scores for consumer milk are considered. For market milk the above process is expected to prove perfect. In case, it is required to use the concentrated milk at destination for certain product manufacturing like cheese etc where this loss of shall and lactose is required to be replenished as per the process guidelines and specifications. This is achieved in two ways. The RO permeate can pass through another level RO process module so as to recover most the constituents in the second level RO retentate which can be mixed with the skim milk concentrate. This is of course a costly process that would add both to the operating cost as well as capital cost and should be chosen only if economically feasible. One could go for addition of dry lactose and salts to manage the situation rather than making investment in the second level RO module. The Permeate from First stage RO can be used for CIP. The second stage RO permeate qualifies to be used as process water. Continuous Butter Manufacturing – Process Improvement The continuous butter making machines presently employed in the country for manufacturing white butter can be improved in construction and performance parameters. This is achieved by simplifying the CBMM design for table butter manufacture. The following improvements have been conceived in the revised design. a) The machine shall be constructed in SS frame work with product contact parts in SS 316 L execution with design suitable for cleaning in position without dismantling. b)

A regular working section has been

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19


Dairy

c)

introduced in the machine to help even distribution of moisture and to lead to butter body without free moisture to facilitate packaging of block butter. The machine is providing with a SNF washing section to bring down the SNF content in butter from around 1.2% to below 0.8%. This results in direct saving by prevention of SNF going for buming while manufacturing ghee.

d)

The machine is designed to produce dried butter with moisture content of 13% and below thereby improving the keeping quality of butter as well as savings on account of the requirement of lesser water evaporation while manufacturing ghee.

e)

The machine is designed with improved drive and energy consumption figures. The machine can also be PLC controlled resulting in power savings to the extent of 40% and savings in refrigeration to the extent of 10%.

f)

The machine has extended running between two CIP cleanings thereby resulting in more daily through put.

g) Machine is built to be suitable for manufacturing of table butter at a later date by addition of second canon for extra working under vacuum and addition of salt dosing and moisture dosing equipment. A cream temperature correction system shall also require to be added to ensure consistent quality of out put butter. The improved design of white butter manufacturing machine is reliable and energy saving in design. It is more flexible in operation and saves an estimated Rs. 400 per tonne of white butter manufacturing. There is also been a revised improved design introduced in table butter manufacturing. A second canon is introduced to intensify working of table butter in vacuum. This results in butter with zero air content and therefore the product has consistent density besides 20

improvement in quality. This helps in further reducing weight variation in butter molding and wrapping machines. Introducing a double canon machine also helps in making the machine suitable for manufacturing a variety of butter products like flavoured butter, lactic acid butter and so on. It also makes it possible to increase vegetable oil content in dairy butter and thereby entering the user in all together different kind of product spectrum. A double canon machine can also be designed in manner to isolate the second canon while manufacturing white butter. Continuous Paneer Manufacturing There is huge demand and large market for paneer in the country. The product is very similar to soft cheeses manufactured in Eastern Europe. One such line for manufacturing of soft cheeses in Eastern Europe has successfully been transformed into a paneer manufacturing line with modification of process and some of the online components. Recently a plant of capacity 26 TPD of paneer has been commissioned successfully for a premium brand in India by transforming a soft cheese plant design. The process includes pre treatment of standardized milk with a time temperature of 90 Degrees for ten minutes. The milk after heat treatment is taken in coagulation vats specially designed for paneer curd. The coagulation is carried out with mineral acid at 76 to 78 Deg. Centi. After completion of coagulation paneer with whey is pumped to a specially designed paneer whey separation module. In the paneer whey separation module, partly drained curd is made to fall into tubular columns where the pressing takes place by the weight of incoming curd. The columns are designed in required cross

SAARC OILS & FATS Today, February 2013

section as per the shape designed for the paneer block. The curd mass having taken the requisite shape is made to fall in specially designed molds having cavities matching to the curd excluding from the columns above. The molds are made of special material with pores all around and at the bottom to allow free flow of whey from the curd mass when the molds are passed to series of pressing stations. Three to five such pressing stations are provided in series where a varying pressure is applied on the mass lying in the mold pockets. After final pressing the paneer blocks are formed which are then unloaded by tipping on to SS tray. Each mold carries geometrically arranged cavities which forms the basis of design for the columnar press and consequently the pressing pistons at every pressing station. The molds then go to an on line washing equipment and pre-washed molds are made available at the inlet of columnar pressing station for reuse. The same on line washing arrangement is used for SS Tray as well. The paneer blocks have a temperature of around 60 Degree Centigrade which is then taken to a cooling room for cooling the blocks to around 20 Degree Centigrade in 3 to 4 hours. Continuous cooling tunnels are also available for large capacities. It is also possible to design a wet cooling system on the basis of chilled water immersion. The paneer blocks at 20 Deg. are then taken to a cutting station where the blocks are cut to the required wight portions as also into dices. The dices go on to a continuous freezing arrangement before pouching. The blocks are taken into flow wrapping maching for packaging. Many improvements have emerged in the processing technology. The heat treatment for extended holding times


Dairy results in higher yield. The homogenization of process milk before coagulation minimizes loss of fat through whey and also helps even distribution of moisture in the paneer block. This also improves the texture and surface of paneer and makes it a stable product when deep fried. The hot whey coming out from the process is largely pasteurized as it remains at higher temperature for longer time. Its heat is used to regenerate and heat the incoming milk for paneer making. The adoption of technology is successful. The product improvement is a continuous process and is on to increase the yield further. Innovations are in progress now to simplify the equipment for lower capacity modules and to make the proposition cost effective in the range of 5 to 10 tonnes per day production. The design is also being built in two phases to fully utilize and enhance the natural shelf life of milk, where in the first phase the plant is not automated to save first investment. The automation can be introduced in the second phase when the capacity utilization improves making the additional investment on automation affordable. De-aerators – Extended Application De-aerators were first introduced in India in cream processing plants imported during English times for pasteurization of cream for butter for ghee making. The objective was to do away with of flavours getting into milk through grazing of milk cattle. De-aerator works on the principle of flashing heated milk under vacuum so as to evaporate the volatile components responsible for of-flavour from milk.

removes entrapped air from milk which is called de-aeration. This improves the quality of market milk and has been found very useful in product processing. Yet another application is controlled removal of water from milk thereby increasing the serum solids concentration in milk. This is expected to help in balancing deficient SNF composition thereby avoiding or minimizing the extent of powder addition in milk. As much as 5 to 10% of the water can be evaporated by suitable design de-aerator.

The improved design of white butter manufacturing machine is reliable and energy saving in design. It is more flexible in operation and saves an estimated Rs. 400 per tonne of white butter manufacturing These volatile components are sucked out from the vacuum chamber through a vacuum pump along with non condensable gases. The extent of vacuum is decided on the basis of the temperature at which of flavour components become volatile. Because of subsequent cooling by flashing, some amount of water also gets evaporated from milk. This water is made to condense and fall back in to the vacuum chamber so as to keep the composition of milk unchanged. The process of vacuum flashing also

Role of R&D Institutions Some of the relatively new processing concepts and equipment have been mentioned in the paper. R&D institutions in the country in the field of dairy processing have done several commendable works. Unfortunately it has largely remained in isolation without exposure to the industry – may be due to the willingness on the part of industry to take such systems whole heartedly with associated risks. The research in India is focused on product development and processing with little to no emphasis on the development of equipment to translate the results of process development into production units. Unless the situation improves the dairy industry would be using more and more of imported know how and equipment at very high cost which itself would be limiting its propagation. A balance of co-operation need to be stuck at to ensure that our vision for the future is rightly placed with best solution for mutual benefit of industry, R&D institution and ultimately to the welfare and taste of our consumers. n Source: Indian Dairy Association (South Zone)

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Soya Milk

Opportunities in Soya Milk and Soya Paneer — Dr. S. D. Kulkarni Project Director, Agro Produce Processing Division (APPD) Central Institute of Agricultural Emerging, Bhopal

S

oyabean is a leguminous plant and has been used for over 5,000 years in China, Japan and Thailand. However, its production and use in India was promoted only around 1970. Soyabean is one of the oldest food sources known to the man. It contains about 40% protein, 23% carbohydrates, 20% oil, 5% mineral, 4% fibre and 8% moisture. Soyabean is recognized for its value in improving and protecting health. Soyaprotein contains all the eight essential amino acids. The recent discovery of the value of soya – isoflavones and their role in disease prevention has created the special interest in soyabean. However, soyabean also contains some antinutritional factors like Trypsin inhibitor, Urease flatulence factors, etc. Hence it requires careful processing prior to utilization in food. Soyabean and nutrition Soyabean, being rich in protein and calorie, has a great potential to tackle the problem of many people in India and other developing countries who suffer from protein – calorie malnutrition. Soyabean has twice as much protein as pulses, groundnut, meat and fish; three times as much as eggs and more than 10 times that of milk and thus it is the most economical source of dietary protein in the world. It is superior to other plant proteins. Soyabean does not have lactose. Hence, soyamilk and other dairy analogs are best suited to lactose – intolerant people. Soyabean economical source of good quality nutrition, extends many health benefits to consumers. Soyabean is a food legume and consists of about 10% hull and 87% cotyledons and 3% hypocotyls. The soyabean contains 40% protein, 20% oil besides, carbohydrates, reasonable amounts of minerals and vitamins (Table 1). Soyabean contains number of health promoting compounds and is an economical food-source. Soyabean and Health Soya based foods extend many health benefits especially to those who are suffering from cholesterol, blood sugar and lactose intolerance. Recent investigations have shown that some of the isoflavones present in soyabean may help to prevent cancer development. It may be said that judicious use of soyabean would lead towards a healthier life and longevity. However, it is necessary to properly process soyabean prior to food use. To 22

SAARC OILS & FATS Today, February 2013

get health benefits of soyabean, some people mix raw soyabean in wheat and use in food preparation, which is not a desirable feature for good human health. Some of the points to be kept in our mind are: l Soyabean reduces the risk of CHD/CVD, Helpful in preventing Cancer, Suits to diabetic patients, Beneficial to lactose intolerants, Provides dietary fibre. l Properly processed soyabean only should be made part of the diet for nutrional and health benefits. l Use of Only Properly Processed Soyabean is Good for Health and Happiness l Consumption of raw/unprocessed soyabean is not good for health l Soya foods are nutritious, good for health and economical. Make them part of daily diet. l Soyamilk is very good product for lactose intolerant people.


Soya Milk The soyabean can be used for food purposes in different forms e.g. soya oil/oil based products, soya flour and based products. The major soya food products accepted, as of now, in India are edible oils, texturised soyaproteins (TSP), flours, bakery products, soya milk / soya paneer (tofu), etc. Thus, one of the options of using soyabean as food is dairy analogs. Soya-dairy analogs like soyamilk, soyapaneer and soyacurd / soya yoghurt, etc. can be made from soyabean. Soyamilk Soyamilk is the water extract of soyaprotein. It can be prepared at domestic, cottage or large scale. The basic raw material for soya milk is whole soyabean. The general process for soya milk preparation consists of few simple steps (Fig. 1) and one kg soyabean yields 6 to 8 litres of soyamilk. The nutritional quality of soyamilk is considered nearer to cow’s milk (Table 2). The cost of soyamilk works out to Rs. 5 to 6 per litre. Soya Paneer Good quality soya paneer can be prepared using fresh soya milk by adopting a simple procedure (Fig. 2) and produced at a cost of Rs. 30/kg indicating very good commercial viability even at cottage scale. The cost of dairy paneer available in the market costs more than 120 Rs./kg and therefore, the soya paneer can be made available at half the price of milk paneer. From one kg of cleaned and dry soyabean 1.5 – 2 kg of soya paneer can be obtained. However, yield of soya paneer depends upon its moisture content. Higher the moisture content, more the yield of soyapaneer. Varietal effect has also been observed on paneer yield. Soya contains approximately 14% protein, 8% oil, 3% carbohydrates and 2% ash. It is very suitable to be used in making paneer pakoda, soya paneer stuffed paratha and paneer curry.

Cleaned and graded Soyabean (1 kg) Soaking in Water to make it soft (1 kg soyabean : 3 litre water) Wet grinding and Volume making Boiling for 15-20 minutes Filtration / Homogenization Soyamil (7-8 litre approx.)

Okara (1.2 kg approx)

Fig. 1: Process flow chart for preparation of soyamilk Soya milk Coagulation (Proteinate complex)

Filtration and pressing

Whey

Soya Paneer Washing and Packaging Storage Fig. 2: Process flow chart for preparation of Soya Paneer from Soyamilk

Table 1: Approximate Food Value of 100 g Edible Soyabean Constituents

Value, g

Remarks

Protein Carbohydrates Fat Moisture Minerals Fibre

43 21 19 8 5 4

Soyabean is a rich source of good quality protein. It also contains fat, fibre and minerals. Soyabean oil has omega-3 Fatty Acid.

Energy

430 kcal

Good source of dietary energy

Phosphorus Calcium Magnesium Iron Zinc Manganese Copper

690 mg 240 mg 175 mg 10 mg 3 mg 2 mg 1 mg

Soyabean is rich in phosphorus, calcium and magnesium.

Carotene Niacin Thiamine Riboflavin

426 mg 3 mg 1 mg 1 mg

It is resonably a good source of carotene

Phytochemicals

Reasonable amount

It has phytochemicals like isoflavones, phytic acids, phyto-sterols, TI, etc.

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Soya Milk Table 2: Average composition of milk from various sources Constituents, %

Sources of milk

Human

Cow

Buffalo

Soyabean

Water

87.43

87.20

82.76

93.00

Fat

03.75

03.70

07.38

02.00

Protein

01.63

03.50

05.48

03.00

Lactose

06.98

04.90

05.48

00.00

Ash

00.21

00.70

00.78

00.20

Other Carbohydrates

00.00

00.00

00.00

01.00

Soyabased dairy analogs themselves. However, the chemical based duplicate product takes The process technology has been developed up to the year them nearer to end point of the life. The soya milk – a natural 2009 at Soyabean Processing and Utilization Centre (SPU) at product which can be easily prepared even at domestic scale, CIAE for preparation of variety of appears to have a great potential to soya based dairy analogs (Table 3). Soya based foods extend many meet the requirement of population at Variety of soya milk based dairy affordable cost. Soyamilk does extend analogs can be prepared. Soyamilk is health benefits especially to those many health benefits to children and the base material for soya paneer and who are suffering from cholesterol, consumers. variety of soyabased dairy analogs. Most of the soyabased dairy analogs blood sugar and lactose intolerance. Commercialization aspects developed (Table 3) are conventional Soyabased dairy analogs being Recent investigations have shown type products popular among Indian relatively low cost products compared masses. that some of the isoflavones present to dairy products of similar type, Though India is the largest have good potential of countrywide in soyabean may help to prevent adoption. The pilot production producer of milk in the world, it is not possible to meet the milk requirement facility has been developed for hands cancer development. It may be of the entire population even as per on training of entrepreneurs to make ICMR recommendation of 200 mililitre said that judicious use of soyabean those available to the people of milk per person per day. Many a would lead towards a healthier life different states. times cases of adulteration of dairy The soya milk and soya paneer milk with other furious materials based enterprises being highly and longevity and harmful chemicals are reported remunerative (Table 4), enterprises and such materials are not good for human health. Under this are spreading all over the India even in the states where the situation, the innocent population has to suffer on health account. soyabean production is nil or negligible. People purchase milk for good health to their children and Organization of training for upcoming entrepreneurs is

Table 3: Soya Based Dairy Analogs Developed for Food Uses of Soyabean Soya based dairy analogs (14) l Soyamilk

l Soyapaneer (tofu)

l Soya curd

l Soya-yoghurt

l Soya lassi

l Soya-ice cream

l Soya matha

l Okara based burfi

l Soya – shrikhand

l Soyabased sweet analog

l Soya amrakhand

l Okara based Gulabjamun

l Soyamilk beverage

l Soya based Rasgulla Pilot Production Facilities for Soya based dairy analogs (3)

l Soyamilk

24

SAARC OILS & FATS Today, February 2013

l Soya paneer

l Soya ice cream


Soya Milk Table 4: Soya Milk and Paneer (tofu): Economic Feasibility Details Cost of Machinery and other non-recutting items

Rs. 322740

Cost of raw materials per month

Rs. 17040

Salaries / wages of 2 workers per month

Rs. 4750

Cost of utilities per month

Rs. 796

Other contingent expenses per month

Rs. 6660

Sale price of soya paneer per kg

Rs. 38

Fixed capital

Rs. 322740

Working Capital (15 days)

Rs. 17548

Total Investment

Rs. 340288

-- Total turnover per year

Rs. 570000

-- Cost of production per year

Rs. 430000

-- Net Profit per year

Rs. 134000

a regular activity. So far 98 training programmes have been organized for soya milk and soya paneer preparation for upcoming entrepreneurs of different states and over 1328 trainees have been trained. Out of these, over 275 have established cottage scale soya food based enterprises in different parts of the country viz. Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, etc. and establishment of such is expected in future in other states also. These enterprises process soyabean mainly for production of soya milk, soya paneer, soyaflour, soya based bakery products, soya nuts, and soyabased dairy analogs. Emerging Approaches – Soya Milk and Soya Paneer Soya milk can be prepared by adoption of different technologies. Some of the newer approaches are briefly presented. Sprouted soyabean The new approach developed for soya milk preparation consists of sprouting of soyabean and then using the sprouted soyabean for preparation of soya milk by the same method as is followed for the soaked soyabean. The soyamilk thus obtained is of relatively better equality particularly on account of phytate and flatulence factors. However, the total duration of process is increased by at least 60-72 hours owing to germination period required for seeds. Also, the stocks

in process are more and thereby more raw material and working capital requirement. The additional equipment required to the set up used for preparation of soya milk and soya paneer, by this approach is the germinator. Soyamilk powder Generally, the soyamilk is manufactured at a decentralized facility at different locations. Another approach envisaged for the purpose could be:- the soya milk manufacturing at a centralized large scale facility established at one location and it may also be supported with milk drying system to produce spray dried soya milk by reconstitution at domestic, cottage or small scale for the purpose of use as plain or flavoured soya milk for consumption / food uses or as a raw material for preparation of soya panree. In this case, equipment set up would not be required for preparation for preparation of soya milk and then use the same for preparation of soya milk and paneer (tofu) by cottage to small scale at different locations. However, only paneer press is required if one desires to manufacture soya paneer and make it available to the population. This approach may reduce the requirement of soyabean as raw materials for each processor for establishment of soya milk and soya paneer enterprise. n

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GM Crops

GM Crops

Traditional breeding out-performs genetic engineering

The basic problem is that GM as employed in agriculture is conceptually flawed, crude, imprecise and poorly controlled technology, that is incapable of generating plants that contain the required multiple, co-ordinately regulated genes that work in an integrated way to respond to environmental challenges

— Bharat Dogra

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lthough exaggerated claims of rise of productivity by GM (genetically modified) crops have been made time and again in India and abroad, on closer examination these have been proved time and again to be untrue. According to a report by eminent scientists comprising the Independent Science Panel, “The consistent finding from independent research and on-farm surveys since 1999 is that GM crops have failed to deliver the promised benefits of significantly increasing yields or reducing herbicide and pesticide use. GM crops have cost the United States an estimated $12 billion in farm subsidies, lost sales and product recalls due to transgenic contamination...The instability of transgenic lines has plagued the industry from the beginning, and this may be responsible for a string of major crop failures.” In April 2009, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) published a report ‘Failure to Yield’ confirming that “after 20 years of research and 13 years of commercialisation, GM crops have failed to increase yields” and that “traditional breeding outperforms genetic engineering hands down”. In a letter written to the Prime Minister of India in 2009, as many as 17 distinguished scientists from the U.S., Canada, Europe and New Zealand pointed out that the claims relating to higher yield and protection of environment made for GM crops are absolutely false. This letter 26

says the following: “More than 95 per cent of all GM crops are engineered to either synthesise an insecticide (Bt toxin) or to tolerate a broad spectrum herbicide (e.g. Roundup, Liberty) or both.” “To date, there are only four major commercialised GM crops (soya, maize/ corn, cotton and canola/oilseed rape)

SAARC OILS & FATS Today, February 2013

most of which (soya, corn, canola) are used primarily as animal feed. All were commercialised in the late 1990s. Since then, no other commercially viable GM crop application has made it to market, especially due to farmers not accepting other GM crops (such as wheat, potatoes, and rice) for negative economic reasons (lack of buyers, loss of export markets).”


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GM Crops “The basic problem is that GM as employed in agriculture is conceptually flawed, crude, imprecise and poorly controlled technology, that is incapable of generating plants that contain the required multiple, co-ordinately regulated genes that work in an integrated way to respond to environmental challenges.” “GM has not increased yield potential. Yields from GM crops to date have been no better and in the case of GM soya have been consistently lower.” “Climate change brings sudden, extreme, and unpredictable changes in weather, which requires that a cropping system be flexible, resilient and as genetically diverse as possible. GM technology offers just the opposite.” The letter warns India against “the unique risks (of GM crops) to food security, farming systems and bio-safety impacts which are ultimately irreversible.” It adds, “The GM transformation process is highly mutagenic leading to disruptions to host plant genetic structure and function, which in turn leads to disturbances in the biochemistry of the plant. This can lead to novel toxin and allergen production as well as reduced/altered nutrition quality.” However, a question may be raised — if GM technology is incapable of raising yields in a sustainable way, how has it been possible to make exaggerated claims of a rise in yields at some places in some years in the case of GM crops like Bt cotton? Dr. Jack Heinemann of the School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, has a decade-long experience of reviewing safety information from companies on their genetically engineered crops. He writes, “The Bt trait does not increase yield, it just is becoming nearly impossible to source the best varieties without the Bt transgenes.” He asks, “Where is the data that these same high yield varieties lacking the Bt trait and grown using sustainable techniques such as integrated pest management and agro-ecology perform less than GM varieties?” and answers his own question: “There is none at all to my knowledge, while there is evidence that GM varieties undermine sustainable agriculture.” In Gujarat, while yields of Bt cotton 28

Science ambiguous on GM crops: Jaipal Reddy The newly appointed Science and Technology Minister, S Jaipal Reddy said science was not clear yet on the issue of GM crops and it should not be treated as an ideological issue. “I think the problem of GM crops is under discussion at the global level. Scientific consensus has not finally emerged. Debate is on at a global level. Science is not clear yet,” he said here. He said a panel of experts appointed by the Supreme Court had submitted an interim report on GM crops to the apex court recently. “I don’t think it should be treated as an ideological issue but as a scientific issue... The ministry requires more time to study the interim report,” Reddy said, adding that he was not in a position to give a final view on an interim report. His remarks come in the wake of a statement earlier this month by the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Prime Minister, headed by eminent scientist C N R Rao, favouring introduction of GM crops. The science panel had argued that technology had potential to transform Indian agriculture. The SAC0-PM had underscored the need to improve the regulatory structure on genetically modified farm produce. Reddy said Indian science was at an advanced stage to engage and participate in the global debate on the issue. A raging debate is on within and outside the Supreme Court on the safety and efficacy of GM crops with scientists pitted in favour and against transgenic food. Anti-GM crops activists have launched a shrill campaign to push for a ban on genetically modified crops and the issue is before the Supreme Court.

Stop trials of GM crops: farmers unions to Andhra Govt

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everal farmers’ leaders in Andhra Pradesh have asked the State Government not to allow GM (genetically modified) crop trials. Representatives of an all-party farmers’ unions have met Agriculture Minister Kanna Lakshminarayana and requested him not to give permission for the GM field trials in the State. “You should consider giving permission only after a holistic study,” the farmers’ leaders had said. “They also asked the Minister not to give permission for GM trials at all in food crops. The Minister assured them that the Government would take a decision only after discussing the issue with all stakeholders,” an official of the Agriculture Ministry said. Meanwhile, the Government had decided to go for a probe into the reported incidence of sucking pest attack on Bt cotton crop in some parts of the State. The Agriculture Minister had issued fresh instructions to the officials of Department of Agriculture to order a thorough investigation into the reports. “The Minister felt that a detailed probe is necessary as biotechnology in cotton has completed a decade in the country,” he said. The Minister also alluded to the issue of non-compliance of refuge norm. (The cotton farmers are advised to sow non-Bt cotton or redgram crops around the Bt crop. This is to reduce the time for the pest to develop resistance to the technology). “It is very important to follow this norm. We should tell the farmers on the steps they should follow before the next kharif season begins,” the Minister was quoted as saying.

increased for some years, this was mainly due to the impact of good weather, improvement in water conservation and irrigation as well as more facilities

SAARC OILS & FATS Today, February 2013

provided for Bt crops. In the very first year of Bt cotton’s commercial cultivation in India (200203), Andhra Pradesh’s Agriculture


GM Crops

GM Crop panel report not objective: Experts

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he recommendation of the Parliamentary Committee on genetically modified (GM) crops that field trials of such crops be banned and a moratorium on commercialisation of GM crops imposed has evoked strong reaction from scores of scientists across the world. “This (the recommendation) is highly detrimental to development of science and harnessing the potential of biotechnology for reviving the country’s agriculture to accelerate poverty reduction and reduce malnourishment,” as many as 65 economists and social scientists from within India and outside have jointly said in a statement. ‘NOT OBJECTIVE’ Stating that the Committee’s analysis does not reflect the available scientific evidence, Prof N. Chandrasekhara Rao, Institute of Economic Growth, University of Delhi, and several prominent agricultural economists and social scientists working on the impact of GM crops, and in particular on Bt cotton in India, have come together to dub the Committee’s report as ‘not objective.’ To escalate the issue to the highest level within the government, a letter has been written to the Prime Minister stating “the GM crop technologies can play a very important positive role towards food security and sustainable development,” it is learnt. The report of the Committee on Agriculture observed that “Bt cotton has benefited seed companies but not poor farmers, and Bt cotton has contributed to farmers suicides.” Several national and international experts have criticised the comment as simply wrong stating it contradicts the scientific evidence on the benefits of Bt cotton in India, published in studies by national and international scholars. Talks with a cross section of stakeholders reveals strong lobbying by anti-GM groups and government apathy towards this technology. It is unclear whether the Indian policymakers have a viable alternative to infusion of technology in agriculture. Given its current moribund status and emerging challenges of land constraints, water shortage and climate change, it is imperative that agriculture is driven by investment and technology infusion. Accepting the recommendations of the Parliamentary panel report on GM crops willy-nilly will mean a setback to revival hopes of Indian agriculture, some stakeholders remarked. The policy environment must encourage long-term planning and flow of investment. There is genuine risk that lack of predictability will drive away all potential investment and technology transfer. Angry Pro-Bt Cotton Farmers The farmers who are in favour of Bt cotton have flayed the recommendations of a Supreme Court panel that called for a 10-year moratorium on field trials of biotech crops. They said biotechnology gave the seeds in-built protection against harmful insects, helping them get additional yields. They called for efforts to make the regulatory system more robust to address fears and apprehensions over the genetically modified crops. “We need to reinforce checks and balances to ensure systematic trials and implementation of all guidelines. But to stop all research into biotech crops is short sighted and regressive,” they said. Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, representatives of three district level farmers’ groups termed the moratorium ‘anti farmer’. Lakshminarayana (President of Nagarjuna Rythu Samakhya, Guntur), S. Jayapal Reddy (President of Pratapa Rudra Farmers Mutually Aided Credit and Marketing Federation, Warangal) and Laxma Reddy (President of Karimnagar Manair Farmers Welfare Society, Karimnagar) have participated in the conference. “There are some seeds (with biotech) protect the plant against herbicides and weedicides and some others help the crops grow with less water and use fertiliser more efficiently. Any moratorium on field trials could impact the interests of farmers,” they said. “We need biotechnology. We want the right to choose and freedom to farm,” they said. The associations have also written to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N Kiran Kumar Reddy, seeking his intervention to ensure that research in biotechnology is not stopped. Department concluded a study on 3,709 farmers growing Bt cotton. As many as 71 per cent of them reported low yields with Bt cotton. In Madhya Pradesh, the average yield of cotton between 1996-2002 (before the introduction of Bt cotton) was 612.7 kg/ ha. However, in the six years after the introduction of Bt cotton, average cotton yield was reduced to 518.3 kg/ha. Above all, it needs to be emphasised that any

claim of a possible rise in yield of a crop can turn out to be entirely baseless if the safety of the crop is not assured. The Independent Science Panel have said in its conclusion after examining all aspects of GM crops: “GM crops have failed to deliver the promised benefits and are posing escalating problems on the farm. Transgenic contamination is now widely acknowledged to be unavoidable, and hence there can be no co-existence

of GM and non-GM agriculture. Most important of all, GM crops have not been proven safe. On the contrary, sufficient evidence has emerged to raise serious safety concerns, which if ignored, could result in irreversible damage to health and the environment. GM crops should be firmly rejected now.” n Courtesy: Hindu Businessline

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Retail

FDI in multi-brand retail

Practical interpretation & relaxation of conditions — Paresh Parekh, Tax Partner: Retail & Consumer Products, Ernst & Young

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arliament has approved foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail. However, the stringent riders seem to have wiped the smile off the face of multinational retail players. After a long-drawn discussion, the Government opened doors to FDI in multi-brand retail trading, but the conditions regulating foreign inflow have left foreign players undecided yet. The welcome mat rolled out to foreign multi-brand retailers is embedded with a minimum investment requirement of $100 million. There is still ambiguity over whether this is supposed to be a bullet investment or a phased investment. However, as investment in retail industry often entails a high gestation period and the need for a phased rollout, it is envisaged that the investment too should be in phases. Also, when foreign players buy out an existing Indian multi-brand retail business to enter this lucrative market, it is hoped that the investment on the transaction would be considered towards meeting this minimum investment criteria. Furthermore, retailers are required to invest 50 per cent of the total FDI in ‘backend infrastructure’ within three years of the first tranche of the FDI. The rider explicitly excludes expenditure on land cost and rentals from backend infrastructure. This will likely worry some players as the principal chunk of backend cost may comprise land cost/ rent of warehouses and cold storage spaces. Without these, retailers may find 30

it challenging to meet the 50 per cent criterion. The Government may consider including expenditure on land cost and rentals of backend infrastructure in meeting the 50 per cent investment condition or, at the least, clarify that backend infrastructure expenses include working capital expenses for backend infrastructure. It is known that while initial investment in backend infrastructure is high, the marginal expenditure on it when scaling up operations may not be as high. Accordingly, it may be suggested that the 50 per cent criterion should be applicable

SAARC OILS & FATS Today, February 2013

only to the initial investment by the foreign player and not on subsequent investments. Many of the large foreign retailers already have backend facilities for their existing wholesale ventures. Now, their foray into retail may not necessitate new backend infrastructure. In such cases, there should be a relaxation as business exigencies may not permit further investment in backend infrastructure. Under the policy, multi-brand retailers should source 30 per cent of manufactured/ processed products from Indian ‘small industries’ (with investment in plant and machinery


Retail not exceeding $1 million). Apart from worries over quality, the mandatory sourcing from ‘small industries’ would restrict the retailer in achieving economies of scale, consistencies in product range and technical specialisations. Also, with the sourcing condition, a big player looking at large investments would incur high costs towards training a large number of small suppliers, with the brand reputation at stake. In the future, when the retailers look for expansion, it would be difficult to continue sourcing from small industries. Moreover, the very sourcing by the retailer would eventually lead to the ‘small industry’ outgrowing its stature and violating the condition. The solution perhaps lies in limiting the classification of a ‘small industry’ for a specified period of time. Retailers also call for industry-wide consistency in FDI regulations. Just as the

Many of the large foreign retailers already have backend facilities for their existing wholesale ventures. Now, their foray into retail may not necessitate new backend infrastructure liberalisation of the 30 per cent sourcing condition in single-brand retail trading, multi-brand retailers too should be

allowed to source 30 per cent from India — with a preference towards MSME, cottage, rural and handicraft industries — and not as a mandatory condition. While e-commerce is steadily gaining ground, the regime makers have explicitly kept out foreign retailing investors from this segment. The ecommerce retail industry, growing at more than 50 per cent, is a huge attraction for foreign retail investors. They can now only hope that the Government would open the doors for FDI in e-commerce retailing or treat e-commerce as another service industry and allow 100 per cent FDI. FDI in multi-brand retail has been widely hailed as one of the boldest moves by the Government, but its implementation calls for practical interpretation and relaxation of conditions in certain cases. Thus, foreign retailers may have to strategise their investments in India. n

Ruchi Soya’s new recipe to market mustard oil brand

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engalis love fish, if prepared with mustard oil. Ruchi Soya Industries is using this to cook up plans to enter the Bengali kitchen. Nutrela – a brand of Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd (RSIL) – has tied up with six major city fish markets to promote its mustard oil brand. Under the campaign, five or six fish-sellers in each of these six markets have been identified. A complimentary pack of mustard oil (branded Nutrela Kachi Ghani) will be given following a purchase of one kg of fish. “The campaign has been created keeping in mind the Bengali sentiments and the need for mustard oil as a cooking medium here. We are looking for tie-ups in other markets,” Sandipan Ghosh, Assistant VicePresident Marketing, Consumer Brands Division, RSIL, said. It will be carried out simultaneously in Bengal and Assam. Bengal alone

accounts for over a third (around Rs 110 crore) of the Rs 300-crore mustard oil market in the country. The Rs 2-crore ad campaign, beginning February 15, will be carried out for a 6-8 week period and include television commercials and radio jingles. This, interestingly, is the company’s first campaign centred around the threeyear old mustard oil brand. Bihar and Jharkhand are next in the company’s radar. According to market sources, the edible oil market in India – that include soya, sunflower, mustard and other oils – is pegged at Rs 3,500 crore. Apart from Nutrela, some other key players in the mustard oil segment (nationally and in Bengal) include Fortune, Emami, Dhara and local players such as Engine and Mashal. Value-Added Products According to Ghosh, Nutrela will

extend its offering bouquet to valueadded segments that include a wide range from breakfast cereals to snacking items. Introduction of high-end blended oils is also on the cards. The entry in the various value-added categories would possibly be around June to September this calendar year. “We are currently mapping the products and firming plans for a possible foray. Entry will be into the health segment and might be either in the oils or food items category,” Ghosh said. Nutrela, a mass-premium offering, currently has presence in edible oils (mustard, sunflower and soya), soya chunks and table spreads. With the foray into value-added products segment, margins are likely to improve to at least 20 per cent from the existing 10-15 per cent.

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Report

SEA announces ‘Global Castor Conference 2013’

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he Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) has announced the 11th International Conference on Castor viz. Global Castor Conference 2013, which will be held on 23rd February, 2013, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The Global Castor Conference is being supported by number of reputed National Exchanges & Organizations connected with the Castor business and International Castor Oil Association (ICOA), U.S.A. India meets more than 80% demand for Castor oil thereby enjoying dominant position in the World Castor Scenario. India’s exports of Castor oil and derivatives are estimated at over Rs. 4000 crores (US$ 850 million) per annum. The global castor derivatives market, estimated to be over US$ 1.2 billion, is highly dependent on India. SEA in its attempt to bring the

Castor fraternity together, is organising this International Conference every year to deliberate and focus on the issues before the Castor Industry and also to arrive at the solutions by fruitful interactions with the eminent speakers and panel members from India & abroad. This 11th International Conference will also provide an unique opportunity for open discussions & exchange of views about the issues pertaining to Castor business, to find solutions to the problems faced by the manufacturers, importers & exporters, technologists, players from the commodity exchanges, brokers & dealers of Castor business all over the world. Global Castor Conference – 2013 will have the unfolding of the latest status of Indian as well as Global Castor Oil Scenarios by the eminent personalities

from the Castor fraternity. Also as in the past, it will feature a presentation on the findings of Castor Crop Survey-2012-13 conducted in key Castor growing States viz. Gujarat, Rajasthan & A. P. by the world renowned market survey agency, M/s. AC Nielsen. This will be followed by the Panel discussion on ‘Castor Oil Price Outlook- 2013’ by the eminent speakers from the Castor business & trade both from India & abroad. The Conference will have the gathering of over 300 Delegates & Special Invitees from all over India & abroad and will provide unique opportunity for one to one meeting for the delegates, specifically with the international buyers of Castor Oil and Derivatives to develop new business contacts and also to strengthen the existing ones.

Forests in Indonesia, Malaysia threatened by growing palm oil demand

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rowing demand for palm oil in India is threatening wildlife in Indonesia and Malaysia, a study released by WWF India said. According to the report, India is the fourth largest oilseed producing country and the world’s largest importer of palm oil and nearly 73 per cent of India’s demand for palm oil is supplied by Indonesia. It stated that this has resulted in Indonesia and Malaysia, witnessing almost a third of forest loss in the last 10 years due to the expansion of oil palm. According to estimates, edible oil demand in India has been growing a CAGR of 4.4 per cent in the past 11 years which has been fuelled by improvement in per capita consumption. Though the report pointed out that the current per capital consumption levels of

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India are lower than global averages. Also, India is the world’s largest consumer of palm oil with 23 per cent of the global consumption in 2011-12. In 2011-12 alone, India imported as much as 7.2 million tonnes of palm oil. Ravi Singh, Secretary General & CEO, WWF India, in a statement said, “When forests shrink, so does the home of endangered species, such as the tiger, rhino, elephant and orangutan —species which are now on the brink of extinction. 15 per cent of all human-induced GHG emissions are caused by deforestation, forest degradation and peatland emissions.” Adam Harrison, Senior Policy Officer - Food and Agriculture, WWF, said that when forests that are vital to communities are cleared people lose their land and other livelihoods and believed that the

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Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is the best answer. The report stated that to avoid contributing to deforestation and social problems, palm oil producers, users and traders need to move towards sustainable palm oil. Darrel Webber, Secretary General of the RSPO said that , “The current consumption of palm oil in India well corresponds with the existing production volume of RSPO certified sustainable palm oil which stands at more than 8 million tonne, which is progressively increasing. This means India is ready to play its part by establishing commitments and policies that will allow the nation and the industry to ensure sustainable provision of certified sustainable palm oil along its supply chain.”

SAARC OILS & FATS Today, February 2013


News

Olive oil prices to spike up due to Spain drought

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live oil aficionados are in for a price shock. Hit by drought, Spain, the largest olive producer, has slashed the crop by about half. As a result, prices of olive oil have firmed up by over 50 per cent in the past six months forcing the importers here to pass on the cost hike to consumers. Besides, a weaker rupee against the Euro has further exerted pressure on the importers here. Some brands, such as Leonardo and Borges, have partially hiked prices in past few months, attributing it to the weaker currency. However, a bigger price hike is in the offing. “There is tremendous pressure on companies to pass on the costs. Prices could go up by about 60 per cent by March as we don’t have any choice,” said V.N. Dalmia, President, Indian Olive Association. Spain, which produces 1.4-1.5 million tonnes of olive oil annually, is expected to produce between 600,000 and 700,000 tonnes, down by over 50 per cent. Spain is the largest exporter of olive oil to India, accounting more than half of the latter’s imports. As the total production of olive oil in the world is only about 3 million tonnes, a loss of 700,000–800,000 tonnes is significant, Dalmia said.

Apart from the rise in raw material price, the costs of processing and transportation have also gone up, compelling the importers hike prices. INPUT COSTS The price of raw material traded on commodity exchanges in Italy and Spain have gone up by an average of 50 per cent over past six months. Dalmia said the price hike could

stunt incremental growth in olive oil consumption in India, where rising affordability, health benefits and increased exposure to Western life styles were aiding the trend. Despite the recent hike in prices, India’s olive oil imports were up 64 per cent for the April-September 2012 period at 4,527 tonnes against 2,627 tonnes in the corresponding period last year.

Govt increases base price for crude oil imports

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he Government has almost doubled the base price or tariff value for import of crude edible oils linking it to global prices of the commodity. However, there is no change in the base price for refined oil imports. The base price for crude palm oil (CPO) has been hiked to $802 a tonne from the earlier $447. For refined, bleached and deodourised (RBD) palm oil, the base price now stands at $853 against the earlier $476. For crude palmolein, the base price has been set at $860 from $481 earlier , while for crude soyabean oil the base price has been more than doubled to $1,190 a tonne from the earlier $580 a tonne. More Imports Feared The latest tariff revision follows the recent levy of 2.5 per cent import duty on crude edible oils to protect domestic

oilseed growers from cheap imports from Malaysia and Indonesia. The refined oils attract an import duty of 7.5 per cent. The edible oil industry fears that the latest hike in tariff value would result in more import of refined oil affecting the domestic refiners. “The hike in base import price for crude edible oils will reduce the price difference between crude and refined palm oils to around 5 per cent from the earlier 7.5 per cent,” said B.V. Mehta,

Executive Director, Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEAI). The reduction in price difference will prompt importers to bring in more of refined oils and would indirectly encourage value addition in the producing countries. “It will be detrimental to the local refiners and their capacity utilisation will be hit,” Mehta said. India is the largest edible oil importer and palm oil account for about 80 per cent such imports. Edible oil imports have been on the rise on growing domestic consumption. For the edible oil year ending October 2012, India’s imports stood at almost 10 million tonnes. The edible oil imports were up 35 per cent in December 2012 at 9 lakh tonnes over corresponding period last year’s 6.69 lakh tonnes.

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News

Govt to re-impose duty on crude edible oils

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hile the big dairies are grappling with a surplus situation in Andhra Pradesh, small dairy units that cater to a smaller section of consumers and to bigger dairies, are facing different but equally difficult challenges. They are facing a tough situation as cost of production has shot up significantly due to severe power cuts, particularly in the morning times, increase in prices of cattle and scarcity of fodder. A few hundred milking, cooling and processing units in and around Hyderabad are severely impacted with these multiple problems. The official power cut at mandal headquarters is put at six hours a day. In villages, power is being supplied only three hours in day time. Most of the power cuts are happening in the morning when the dairies go for milking machines. The recent Nilam cyclone had wiped out 1.90 lakh tonnes of fodder, creating severe shortage of animal feed. “Most of these dairies are located outside of the State Capital and other urban centres.

They are connected to the rural feeders,” Bhasker Reddy, President of Indian Dairy Association (Andhra Pradesh Chapter), said. It is small dairy farmers who are impacted by this most. Many of the milking machines, priced Rs 75,000-2 lakh, are idle due to the power shutdown, Bala Reddy, who represents the Dairy Farmers’ Association, said. The farmers are in a dicey situation. If they want the machines and processing units to work, they should deploy generators. If they do, it will only increase

the cost of production further. To reach consumers on time, milking operations are generally carried out around 3-4 am in the morning and again 12 hours later. The option of manual labour is expensive. If labour costs were Rs 800 a month six years ago, it is a minimum of Rs 8,500 now, he said. Bala Reddy, however, said this was not a new problem. “But we face this in the summer. It is only December now and we are saddled with this issue,” he adds. An extra cost of Rs 2,000 a month has to be borne on diesel alone by a small farmer. Similarly, with farmers not getting the 7hour power supply, production of green fodder has been effected. Dry fodder in markets cost Rs 6-7 a kg, which drastically increases the fodder costs for cattle, he said. The Progressive Dairy Farmers Association has made a representation to treat dairy on par with agriculture to get some benefits.

Palm oil rebounds as Malaysia cuts stockpiles

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alm oil is rebounding from a market after Malaysia, the second-biggest grower, cut export taxes to diminish record stockpiles. Inventories will drop 16% to 2.2 million tonne by March, the most since 2010, after tariffs were reduced to zero this month, according to the median of six analyst and trader estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Futures will rally 14% to 2,800 ringgit ($921) a tonne in Kuala Lumpur by the end of this quarter, the median of 13 estimates shows. The most-consumed cooking oil rose 11% since hitting a three-year low in December on prospects for more exports and as trees, which are harvested throughout the year, start their lowestyielding quarter. Dwight Anderson, the founder of New York-based hedge fund Ospraie Management, said last month that palm was one of his top commodity picks for 2013. Dorab Mistry, who has traded the oil for three decades, says prices probably already peaked this year because output 34

will rebound. “Palm oil will climb in the first quarter, or until May, as stockpiles may decline,” said Hariyanto Wijaya, a Jakarta- based analyst at PT Mandiri Sekuritas, a unit of the biggest bank by assets in Indonesia, the largest palmgrowing nation. “The price will probably drop in the second half because of increased output in Malaysia and Indonesia.” Futures that fell as low as 2,217 ringgit on December 13 on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange advanced 1.9% to 2,465 ringgit on Wednesday. They slumped 23% in 2012, the biggest rout since 2008. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI gauge of 24 raw materials rose 2.8% this year and the MSCI All-Country World Index ofequities added 3.7%. A Bank of America index shows Treasuries lost 0.4%. Malaysian inventories reached a record 2.63 million tonne in December, or about 14% of the country’s annual output. That prompted the government to reduce the export tariff from January 1 to 4.5%

SAARC OILS & FATS Today, February 2013

to 8.5%, from about 23%. With prices still below the threshold that triggers the lowest rate, the tax was removed completely for January and February. The anticipated surge in shipments will coincide with a seasonal drop in output. Harvesting typically peaks in September or October and reaches its lowest point in January or February, with an average decline of 34% in the past five years, data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board show. That should also boost prices, and demand will strengthen because of rising costs for competing oils, said Ivy Ng, an analyst at CIMB GroupHoldings, Malaysia’s second-largest lender by assets. Soya bean oil, the most-consumed after palm, advanced 5.6% to 52.46 cents a pound in Chicago trading this year after US farmers endured the worst drought since the 1930s. Global reserves of the commodity will tumble 15% to 3.27 million tonne by September, the steepest slump since 1997, the US Department of Agriculture estimates.


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News

Oilseed exporters want more time to get registered The Indian Oilseeds and Produce Export Promotion Council (IOPEPC) has sought more time for groundnut shelling units to comply with the new Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notification making it compulsory for export units to register with Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda). There has been a lot of concern among the groundnut processors following the DGFT notification, according to IOPEPC. Upon announcement of trade notification, office-bearers of the council made a representation at various levels in Commerce Ministry for simplifying the new guidelines. One immediate serious issue was stoppage of export of groundnut which was stuffed in containers lying in the ports. The council has been successful in resolving this issue to a large extent.

IOPEPC held a meeting recently to inform the trade about the new requirement and also hear the difficulties

that would be faced by the trade. Consequently on January 15, the council held a meeting with Apeda officials to seek 12-24 months for export units to register and comply with Apeda regulations. While informing the trade that they have been give more than two years to register and adhere with new norms, Apeda assured to look into the issues sympathetically, said a council member who was present at the meeting. Currently there are about 45 groundnut shelling units that are complying with Apeda. However, there are scores of small and medium units that are yet to register with those norms. These units, which cater largely to domestic markets, also tap the export markets occasionally when there is a buoyant demand, he said.

Oman wants Indian help to develop its dairy industry The Sultanate of Oman is seeking help of India, world’s largest milk producer, to develop dairy industry in the Gulf. A four-member delegation from Sultanate of Oman recently visited the headquarters of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in milk city - Anand to seek the national dairy board’s assistance for the same. It was for the first time that a delegation from Oman visited NDDB. The delegation led by Ali Mohammad Salim Al Kalbani, advisor of the livestock in the office of secretary to the ministry of agriculture from Sultanate of Oman, and Khalifa Salim Mohammed Al Kiyumi, advisor of the agriculture research in the office of secretary to the agriculture, visited NDDB between January 16 and January 19. With a view to strengthen co-operation in the field of dairying in Oman, the delegation held discussions with NDDB chairman Amrita Patel. NDDB presented before them an overview of various initiatives being taken by it for dairy development in India. “The delegation was particularly interested to understand producer institutions, which NDDB is promoting, and to assess their relevance to Oman as the government is anxious to support farmers with cattle in remote parts of 36

NDDB involved in manufacture of dairy machineries. While visiting Centre for Analysis in Livestock and Feed (CALF), they were impressed by CALF’s analytical services in food and feed.

their country who do not have access to a market,” a NDDB release said this on Monday. “The delegation was also briefed about NDDB’s training modules focusing on capacity building of professionals, board of directors and milk producers. They were also explained about the research and development undertaken by NDDB in the areas of animal breeding, animal nutrition and animal health,” the release further mentioned. As it took keen interest in NDDB’s fodder demonstration unit, methane laboratory and other pilot plant for urea molasses block production, mineral mixture and bypass protein, the delegation also visited NDDB managed Sabarmati Ashram Gaushala at Bidaj, which is the largest state of the art semen station in the country. This apart, the members visited a dairy plant and IDMC, a subsidiary of

SAARC OILS & FATS Today, February 2013

China’s bulk buying gives fillip to soyabean

China, the world’s largest cookingoil user, bought 20,000 metric tons of soybean oil to boost government stockpiles, said two people with knowledge of the industry. The oil was bought last week by China Grain Reserves Corp., which manages state stockpiles, the people said. Cheng Bingzhou, a spokesman for China Grain Reserves Corp. in Beijing, didn’t answer a call to his mobile phone. China has auctioned 904,800 tons of rapeseed oil, offloaded soybeans and cooking oil in private sales to selected companies this year to curb food prices and inflation, which surged to 6.5 percent in July, the highest since June 2008. The country is the world’s biggest buyer of oilseed.


News

World’s first cloned buffalo gives birth

T

he cloned buffalo Garima II on Friday gave birth to a calf at the Karnalbased National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI). The calf, named Mahima, was born through ‘hand-guided cloning technique’.It weighs 32 kg and is reported to be normal and healthy. The newborn “Mahima” is keeping good health and started suckling of milk within 30 minutes of birth, said A.K. Srivastava, Director, National Dairy Research Institute. “It is a big success and a proud moment for India. It is the first calf born from a cloned buffalo in the world,” he said. It is a future technique and it has

opened many doors for the scientists in the field of dairy research, said Srivastava. Garima II, born on August 22, 2010 attained maturity in 19 months compared to her contemporaries that normally

take 28 months. It was inseminated with frozen-thawed semen of a progeny tested bull of NDRI on March 27, 2012, he said. She was maintained under standard scientific management system during the gestation period. She showed impending calving symptoms and was given medical care. She calved normally upon medical assistance. According to Srivastava, when Garima II was born, she also weighed 32 kg . The NDRI is known across the globe and came into the limelight for production of world’s first buffalo cloned calf Garima.

Milk powder to become milk as supply shrinks

W

ith the supply of fresh liquid milk dwindling in summer, dairies sitting on huge stocks of milk powder left over from last year are set to produce milk from skimmed milk powder (SMP). It is a general trend that half of the milk produced from March onwards is reconstituted from SMP with the addition of butter oil. According to industry estimates, the SMP stock in the country is between 90,000 tonne and 1.10 lakh tonne. Mother Dairy and state cooperative federations of Gujarat and Karnataka were holding close to 70-80% of SMP stocks from 2011 and 2012. SMP prices are in the range 150-170 a kg now compared to 180-190 a kg in the corresponding period of 2012. This is prompting dairy majors to cater products made out of SMP. From a kg of SMP, 10 litre milk can be reconstituted. Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) MD RS Sodhi said that Amul markets only fresh liquid milk unlike competitors. But private

dairies have started giving discounts and additional margins to retailers to increase their share in the competitive market, which is dominated by National Dairy Development Board’s Mother Dairy and Amul. “Unlike milk co-operatives which are not planning to lower the prices even after making huge profits, we will be passing

the benefit to our consumers,” said Kuldeep Saluja, MD, Sterling Agro, a milk powder manufacturer and exporter, who has just launched his liquid milk brand in the Delhi NCR region. Selling under the Nova brand, the company is giving 10% free milk across the range of full cream, toned and doubled-toned milk pouches. Some players are giving half a litre milk free to retailers on the sale of every milk crate of 12 litre. According to Mother Dairy MD S Nagarajan, milk is available in good supply from October to February. “There is a sufficient stock of SMP in the country and we see exports of casein and SMP picking up. In 2012-13, liquid milk prices increased by 3-4% compared to 2011-12. For the coming fiscal, it will be important to watch closely the onset of summer and the availability there on. No one expects runaway price increase as in the past,” he said. Milk and milk products kept inflation figures high in the last few years.

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