Fonterra Co-operative Group, the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative (IFFCO) and Global Dairy Health recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly conduct a feasibility study into a pilot dairy farm inIndia as a first step towards the vision of establishing large-scale world-class dairy farms in India.

Fonterra CEO Andrew Ferrier, IFFCO Joint Managing Director Rakesh Kapur, and Global Dairy Health (GDH) Director Paresh Chaudhry signed the agreement in Aucklandrecently.

The ongoing feasibility study would firm up key parameters of the project and is expected to be completed shortly.

If it were to proceed, in phase one, the pilot farm could have a herd size of around 3,000-5,000 cows.

Mr. Ferrier said the approach would be similar to that taken by Fonterra in China. Fonterra established a pilot farm for 3,000 cows in Tangshan in 2007. “India is a vibrant and growing market and we are excited by the potential opportunities there. We are delighted to be working with IFFCO, the world’s largest farmer fertiliser co-operative with a membership of 50 million farmers, and GDH, which is highly respected in India.”

Mr Kapur said: “We are delighted to partner with a reputable dairy leader like Fonterra. The synergy of

two large co-operatives and dairy experts will help positionIndiaas a quality milk producer.”

Mr Chaudhry said “GDH was excited by the move which complemented GDH’s vision to establish state of the art integrated dairy farms. The consortium will help to bridge the vast production gap of high quality, safe milk that will provide high protein diet to the young and growing India”.

About Fonterra: Fonterra is a global leader in dairy nutrition – the preferred supplier of dairy ingredients to many of the world’s leading food companies. Fonterra is also a market leader with our own consumer dairy brands in Australia/New Zealand, Asia/Africa, Middle East and Latin America.

The farmer-owned New Zealand co-operative is the largest processor of milk in the world, producing more than two million tonnes of dairy ingredients, value added dairy ingredients, specialty ingredients and consumer products every year. Drawing on generations of dairy expertise, Fonterra is one of the largest investors in dairy based research and innovation in the world. Our 16,000 staff work across the dairy spectrum from advising farmers on sustainable farming and milk production, to ensuring we live up to exacting quality standards and delivering every day on our customer promise in more than 100 markets around the world.

About IFFCO: IFFCO is a Multi-State Co-operative Society with more than 39,500 farmers’ co-operatives and over 50 million farmers as members. IFFCO is the world’s largest fertiliser manufacturer in the co-operative sector. IFFCO has diversified into other sectors such as non-life insurance, power generation, distribution of rural mobile telephony services with a number of joint ventures. IFFCO is setting up a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Indiaand is looking to develop a state of the art integrated dairy farm within that SEZ.

About GDH: GDH is an organisation established by globally renowned individuals with proven credentials and expertise in the food and agribusiness domain to develop a global franchise of large scale state of the art integrated dairy farms for bridging the production gap of high quality and safe milk especially in the milk and protein deficit regions of Asia and Africa.

Image Caption: From left – Paresh Chaudhry, Director, Global Dairy Health; Andrew Ferrier, CEO, Fonterra; Rakesh Kapur, Managing Director, IFFCO.