For the first time in Moldova, a milk collection cooperative will start processing milk according to advanced technologies. It also plans to increase the shelf life of the pasteurized milk produced in Moldova three times and to process goat milk. Vita-Lact is based in Ignatei village of Rezina district, Info-Prim Neo reports. The cooperative purchased a part of the modern equipment it needs to produce pasteurized milk, sour cream and butter. Afterward, it will diversify the assortment of products and will also process goat milk. The cooperative will use technologies to pasteurize the products directly in package. This will enable to extend the shelf life of the products to 15 days, which is three times longer. Vita-Lact was registered in 2001. It collects and transports milk, provides veterinary and pharmaceutical services and carries out mechanized works. As the milk production is large and the raw material cannot be sold, the members of the cooperative decided to extend the services and start processing milk. The cooperative now has 410 members. It collects daily up to 10 tonnes of milk from ten villages of Rezina district. Vita-Lact is the first milk collection cooperative in Moldova that will process the raw material. Twenty-four milk processing companies work in Moldova at present. At the end of 2008, the cattle farms included 180,000 cows. A cow produced about 2,900 kg of milk a year. The yearly milk production was about 600,000 tonnes. Vita-Lact implements the project with the help of the USAID-funded Farmer to Farmer Program.