Tamil Nadu Government's ambitious plan for triggering a White Revolution in the State might suffer a setback if it failed to attend to the shortage in supply of cattle feed by the Aavin (Tamil Nadu Milk Producers' Co-operative Federation).
K.A. Sengottuvelu, president of the Tamil Nadu Milk Producers' Welfare Association, told The Hindu that the feed supply of Aavin was far too low against the requirement.
On an average, production of one litre of milk would require a concentrated feed of at least half a kg, he said. “As against the Aavin's current procurement of about 25 lakh litres a day, it would require a feed of 12.5 lakh kg (1250 tonnes) a day. Besides, the State Government has planned to distribute 12,000 milch animals during the current financial year, and they might require at least 300 more tonnes of feed.”
While the open market rate of concentrated feed was about Rs.12-14 a kg, Aavin had been selling the same at Rs.9, he conceded.
However, he alleged that the supply from Aavin had virtually vanished in many regions thus forcing most of the milk producers to resort to open market purchase. “This is a substantial burden as feed component alone costs anywhere between Rs.2.50 to Rs.3 a litre.”
He pointed out that the private sector had made considerable inroads into the dairy sector in Tamil Nadu because of higher procurement price.
Procurement price
“The procurement price of Aavin is Rs.18 per litre while the private dairies not only pay more than Rs.20-22 a litre but also undertake milking, which has become a very arduous task now even in rural areas.”
Mr. Sengottuvelu said that as procurement price in all the contiguous States was far higher than in Tamil Nadu “a lot of milk from border districts is flowing out of the State.”
Official sources, requesting anonymity, admitted that Aavin's Erode plant, the only one functional at present, had been producing 1,500 tonnes of feed a month. Aavin had estimated that the 4.25 lakh milk supplying members of the co-operative societies would require at least 6,000 tonnes of feed a month. The major reason for the inability of Aavin to produce higher quantity, according to them, is the low price at which feed is retailed – Rs.8.60 per kg, while the input cost has shot up. “The last revision in price of feed was in 2009 and unless it is increased, it would be unviable to go in for higher production.”
The sources said that Aavin had been trying even the tender process to procure feed at a low cost but in vain.
