While the distress of the farm community of Anantapur district has been a long standing issue, the issue of distress amongst dairy farmers in the district is a first of sorts and if not sorted out fast, it may lead to an absolute decimation of agriculture-related activities in the district.
On Monday, dairy farmers under various organisations like the AP Rythu Sangham etc., staged a protest in front of the RDO office at Anantapur, throwing away milk that was not being procured by the A.P. Dairy at Anantapur, as a symbol of protest against the dairy not buying the milk produced.
Of late, farmers around the district have started complaining about the A.P. Dairy, which is the single largest milk procurer in the district, procuring more than 70,000 litres a day, not buying all their milk, leaving out many farmers, citing reasons such as low fat percentage in their milk.
It is estimated that over 10,000 litres per day is not being bought by the A.P. Dairy and the private dairies in the district are causing a loss of at least Rs. 2 lakh per day totalling to a staggering over Rs. 60 lakh per month, going by a conservative estimate.
Meanwhile, when questioned about the reasons as to why the A.P. Dairy was rejecting milk from farmers, General Manager, Papa Rao of the Andhra Pradesh Dairy Development Federation, which operates the A.P. Dairy, refuted the allegations that they were not buying milk from farmers in the district and said that they were actually buying 80,000 litres per day which is 20,000 litres more than they used to buy last year.
However, he said that the APDDF could not buy milk from middlemen who procure milk for private dairies just because they had more leftover milk as the private dairies had reduced their intake and prices also. He also added that the APDDF was rejecting milk that did not meet the minimum standards set by the APDDF. He said APDDF also had to look at the issue of consumption, as an increase in buying milk by them would eventually result in a surplus which could not be marketed instantly and hence would have to be sold to other dairies.
