Eon Group launches first automated dairy farm

Eon Group has launched the first-ever automated pasteurised milk factory at Badarganj in Rangpur.

All the processes from milking to pasteurisation, homogenisation and the packing of the product will be done without any hand touch.

Besides milk, other dairy products like ghee, yoghurt and ice cream will also be produced.

Eon Hi-Tech Dairy Farm inaugurated the pasteurisation programme under the brand name 'Bakara' on Saturday.

Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim was present at the inaugural event.

The entire activities including feeding the cows on the farm are done through an automatic system.

Apart from milking, harmful antibiotics and aflatoxins are separated from the milk at the farm's processing unit.

The milk will be available in the market in 500ml and 1,000ml packs.

Fat and fat-free milk of two different flavours produced at the farm will also be available in the market.

Momin-ud-Daulah, managing director of Eon Group, said everything from milking the cows to packaging the milk is being done through automation.

"In addition to pasteurisation, we will also market powdered milk soon."

During a visit to the firm, it was seen that the cows have been kept separately in several large sheds made by Eon Bio Science Dairy Farm, which was designed by a company called D Level in Sweden.

An automated milking parlour has been set up for milking the cows.

Farm adviser AKM Sirajul Haque said: "We are not using hands in any way in the whole process. All the work is done to produce safe milk in a controlled machine."

In addition, IoT sensors have been installed on the farm to monitor the health, feeding, medication and breeding of each cow.

Earlier at the end of 2019, this dairy farm was built on 50 acres of land in Santoshpur village of Badarganj in Rangpur district.

In the year, the group imported 225 Holstein Friesian cows from Australia by air.

The cows are now being reared on this farm. 198 new babies were born.

At present, the farm produces 2,000 litres of milk daily. It will soon increase to 10,000 litres, officials said, adding that it will be marketed through other companies under their group.

Group Managing Director Momin said the country's annual milk production has increased 10 times in the last few years, but it still spends around Tk4,000 crore every year on the import of milk, especially powdered milk.

He said a huge employment will be created through the expansion of the farm, besides meeting the local demand for milk and milk products.

Eon Animal Health, which kicked off on a small-scale in the year of 2000, is now a large group organisation.

Currently, the group has now about two and a half thousand employees working for its 20 sister concerns.

In addition to fish, grain and cattle farms, Eon Group has animal health and poultry feed business.

The group has been producing grains or seeds since 2006. It also has a poultry processing company called Eon Food.