Milma is set to increase the market price of milk with a view to providing higher procurement prices to farmers. An expert committee, appointed by Milma to study the issue, has recommended a price hike.
A meeting of the heads of three regional unions of Milma held last week has given a green signal to the proposal to increase the prices. The cooperative body will decide on the quantum of increase after discussing the issue with the government, according to top officials of Milma.
The authority to declare price hike had been vested with Milma in 2011 as per a High Court order. Since then, the prices were increased twice. The government had been extending subsidies on various inputs to help the dairy farmer, but the steep hike in the cattle feed prices last year had forced the farmers to insist on a hike in procurement prices.
There are many dairy farmers who do not supply milk to the cooperative network under Milma and some of their organisations had taken up agitations seeking a hike in the prices. In fact, many among them are supplying milk at ₹45 or more per litre of milk in the market while Milma is selling milk at lower rates.
Milma has been getting about 3 lakh litres of milk from neighbouring States to meet the daily supply requirements as the domestic production is inadequate. The milk cooperative supplies about 12 lakh litres daily. There have been complaints about the quality of milk brought from other States.
Dairy Development Minister K. Raju has already gone on record that the dairy farmers should get better income, indicating the government’s approach to the issue. He told a meeting of dairy farmers at Palamel here recently that the farmers should get ₹34-35 per litre. The farmers are getting less than ₹30 now though several sops are extended to them by Milma.
Interestingly, there is a standing demand that the sops be extended to farmers in the unorganised sector. A cluster of dairy farmers should get such benefits in order to promote the sector, said Gino M., a spokesman of the Kerala Aggressive Farmers Association which had organised an agitation by pouring out milk on the public road, in protest against non-remunerative pricing in the sector.
