New Dairy Collection Center in Jojutla Aims to Support Local Farmers

The Secretaría de Desarrollo Agropecuario (Sedagro) in the state of Morelos is launching a strategic project to boost the regional dairy sector. The project involves the establishment of a raw milk collection center in Jojutla municipality. This center is specifically designed to support small and medium-sized producers who have historically faced logistical and marketing challenges.

The initiative aims to organize the collection, refrigeration, and standardization of raw milk quality before it reaches the industry or local processing units. By reducing intermediaries and transportation costs, the center will enable farmers to access a more formal market with better pricing conditions.

Economically, the center can help eliminate intermediaries, reducing individualized transportation costs and allowing farmers to access formal markets with improved price conditions. By concentrating milk volumes and ensuring homogeneous quality through laboratory testing, small producers gain better negotiating power with large buyers, enhancing the profitability and sustainability of family farms.

From a safety perspective, the collection center plays a crucial role by immediately receiving and refrigerating milk under controlled conditions. This process extends the milk's shelf life and preserves its nutritional properties, ensuring that the product meets high sanitary standards before reaching consumers or processing plants.

Sedagro's vision for this project extends beyond collection. The facility is planned as a development hub, potentially facilitating the future establishment of a small processing plant. This would allow producers to add value to a portion of their raw milk by producing regional cheeses or yogurts, promoting vertical integration and economic autonomy for dairy producers.