Kerala Feeds Ltd., a Kerala Government company, have begun the construction of their newest cattle feed plant to be located in Thiruvangur, Kozhikode. The feed mill will have capacity to produce 300 tonnes of cattle feed a day, and will be expandable to 500 per day in the future.
The land identified for the project was lying idle with the Coconut Development Corporation. It was following a proposal submitted by M. Dasan MLA, that the new venture was realised.
The foundation stone for the factory building was laid by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on September 17, 2011. Civil works on the feed mill site began on September 7, 2012 and are projected to be completed by the end of February next year. Work is contracted out to Uralungal labour Contract Co-operative Society Ltd. (ULCCS Ltd).
Construction of the feed mill will be done by the company Shriram EPC, with the feed mill expected to be finished and operational by September 2014. The feed mill will use state of the art imported feed machinery to guarantee them feed production on a large-scale and of a high quality.
The project was initially funded by the state government, and will benefit from an investment of Rs.50 lakh, of which Rs.18 lakh will be spent on the completion of building amenities. A portion of the remaining fund will be utilised for developing internal roads and drainage facilities.
The new cattle feed mill project is expected to benefit a large number of dairy farmers in the Malabar region. Though the factory is located in Thiruvangur, the products will be available through sub-dealers across the State. Goat feed too will be available for the farmers once full-fledged operations begin.
A proposal for opening a sub-centre of Kerala Agricultural University on the site has also been submitted to the government for consideration. Mr. Dasan, who submitted the proposal, said the excess land available after the factory was built could be utilised for the centre.
The MLA said that the cattle-feed plant would be of big help to the dairy farmers in the Malabar region who were facing a shortage of quality feed at affordable prices. "The work is in full swing and we hope to start the commercial production by September 2014," he said.
Kerala Feeds currently operated a 650 tonne per day cattle feed plant in Kallettumkara, Thrissur; a 1200 tonne per annum mineral mixture plant in Athavanad, Malappuram; a 15000 tonne per annum densified fodder block plant in Muthalamada, Palakkad and a 300 tonne per day feed plant in Karunagappally, Kollam.
The company in currently building or has approved the building of a 50 tonne per day by-pass protein plant in Kallettumkara, Thrissur , a 500 tonne per day cattle feed plant in Idukki, a 60 tonne per day goat feed plant in Chemmanchery, Kozhikode; along with the 300 tonne per day cattle feed plant in Chemmanchery, Kozhikode mentioned in this article.
