The Indo Swiss Project Kerala (ISPK) was constituted under a bilateral agreement between the Government of India and the Swiss Confederation in 1963 with the aim of evolving a new breed of cattle adapted to the local environment. To ensure continuity and to strengthen the organization for further expansion, the Project was converted into a Government Department named Indo Swiss Project Department. By mid 1970s, the Government of Kerala decided to constitute an autonomous body named the Kerala Livestock Development and Milk Marketing Board (KLD & MMB) under the Companies Act 1956, integrating the production, procurement, processing and marketing of milk under one umbrella. The commercial units of the Board namely chilling plants, dairy plants and cattle feed plants were transferred to the Kerala cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF) when it was registered under the Kerala Cooperative Societies Act in 1983. The remaining activities (cattle breeding, frozen semen production and distribution, fodder development, training etc.) continued with the Board. In 1990 a pricing mechanism for the Board’s products like frozen semen and fodder seeds was introduced. A new staff structure together with staff rules was also introduced. Intensive manpower development programmes and infrastructure development activities were taken up. The Kerala Livestock Development Board Ltd. thus developed into a full fledged company and has not looked back thenceforth. |