22 April 2022 - Nanda Feeds Private Limited, a sister company of Indian poultry farmer Nandu's, recently inaugurated a premix unit at their feed factory in Hiriyur, near Chitradurga in the state of Karnataka.
The fully automated premix unit will benefit from high accuracy precision measuring scales, a NIR lab, a double shaft paddle mixer with integrated raw material silos with auto batching and pneumatic operated gates.
Naveen Pasuparthy, owner of Nanda Feeds, said that the unit’s production capacity is 60 tonnes per day; 1,600 tonnes per month on a 3 shift basis. The new unit required an investment of about $550,000.
According to Mr. Pasuparthy, the premix will mainly be used internally by its own vertically-integrated poultry business and only sold to customers who meet payment terms and conditions. This fits in with the company’s feed sales strategy wherein selling finished feed outside the company is not a priority.
Mr. Pasuparthy commented: “Nanda Feeds operates in three states – Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu with three feed plants. The plants are basically used for internal consumption by our breeding and commercial broiler and layer farming operations.”
The premix investment is mainly seen as a means to increase internal efficiencies.
“2022-2023 is the year of driving efficiencies and cost reductions, not production expansions,” Mr. Pasuparthy said.
“The company will also work continuously at increasing plant efficiencies by bringing down manufacturing costs per tonne by usage of sustainable energy sources (example - solar) and also through installing real time IoT energy monitoring devices throughout the plant,” he added. “We will also initiate a moisture optimisation programme in our manufacturing activity which will increase palatability of feed.”
Other investments planned will be in activities for direct procurement of maize and soya seeds from agricultural farmers by working with farmer producer organisations, and establishing procurement centres in the growing grain belts.
“Doing this will lower thes company's procurement cost and increase efficiency in raw material purchases,” Mr. Pasuparthy commented. “We will further look at bulk handling and bulk transportation solutions, grain drying systems and bulk storage facilities for both maize and soya.”
Mr. Pasuparthy added that Nanda Feeds is also involved in a start-up - INSECTIFii is one of Asia's first commercial-scale, insect farming businesses. The insect protein produced is seen as an alternative protein source for soya de-oiled cake.
“This is another activity that we will look closer at in 2022-2023,” he said.
