The strike by the Milk Producers' Association, which began on Monday, did not affect Aavin milk supply in the city. However, the strike impacted parts of Salem, Erode, Dharmapuri and Tiruchi, according to Aavin sources.
A spokesperson for Aavin, which supplies about 20 lakh litres of milk daily across the State, said the milk producers had gone on strike earlier too demanding price revision. While the milk procurement price had been revised four times in as many years, the hike had not been passed on to the consumer, the official said. At present the procurement price for cow's milk is Rs.16.64 a litre and for buffalo milk it is Rs.25.20/lt.
Refuting allegations that the cattle owners were destroying the milk that was not supplied through cooperative societies to Aavin, president of TN Milk Producers' Association, K.A. Sengottuvelu said they had adopted a strategy to reduce supply.
“We rear hybrid animals which require concentrated feed. We will reduce the feed and the yield will automatically fall. The excess milk is made into curds from which we extract butter and the buttermilk is sold in the market,” he said.
According to him on Monday members supplied to Aavin only a third of the 17 lakh litres supplied daily. In the morning, four lakh litres of milk was procured as against 10 lakh litres. In the evening, of the seven lakh litres only around three lakh litres was received.
While only two lakh litres was sent to Chennai, Salem did not receive 75 per cent of its supply. Erode received 15 per cent of its supply. A similar situation prevails in Tiruchi and South Arcot.
