Dairy farmers in Maharashtra's once prosperous milk belt are struggling to get remunerative prices for the milk they sell in the market.
Dairy farmers in Maharashtra's once prosperous milk belt are struggling to get remunerative prices for the milk they sell in the market.
In Kolhapur, which is known as the milk hub of Maharashtra, some of the dairy farmers are lucky to get Rs 23 per litre for cow's milk while most earn in the range of Rs 17-19 per litre. The price they get is even less than the price of bottled water which costs Rs 20 a litre, a report in Times of India said.
The price that consumers pay for milk once it reaches cities is Rs 40-44 a litre but farmers feel cheated as they don't receive a share of that.
A global supply glut leading to crash in international prices of skimmed milk powder has caused the prices to plunge by Rs 4-10 per litre in the last eight months. This has led to widespread protests by dairy farmers. The crisis has become worse as several dairies announced a cut of Rs 2 per litre in procurement of milk and some of them refusing to buy cow's milk, the report stated.
"I make Rs 720 a day but spend Rs 1,000 on the cows. I used to make a profit of Rs 15,000 per month, but now I make a loss of Rs 9,000,” the report quoted Babasaheb Mane, a dairy farmer in Maharsahtra's Sangli, as saying. Both Mane and his wife now work as farm labourers to earn their living, the report added.
The crisis is rooted in the fact that the procurement prices have fallen over a period of last few months and the input costs have risen at the same time which has led to farm distress.
Maharashtra has seen a milk surplus of 22 lakh litres per day since November, the report said. During the same time prices of international skimmed milk powder fell by 30-40 per cent causing a loss to the dairies which in turn cut the prices paid to the farmers.
The state had hiked the procurement price of milk from Rs 24 to Rs 27 a litre but it failed to have an impact as most of the dairies are privately controlled and only 1 per cent of the milk is procured by the government. Around 39 per cent of the milk is procured by dairies controlled by the Congress and the NCP.
“When the Milk Control Order was in force till mid-2000, the state controlled licences to dairies. But now milk is an open commodity,” the report quoted state's dairy development commissioner Rajeev Jadhav as saying.
At the Niti Aayog's fourth governing council meeting, Maharashtra's chief minister Devendra Fadnavis suggested that the Centre should announce a minimum support price (MSP) for milk to support the dairy farmers at a time of crisis.
He also suggested that the Centre should announce subsidy for farmers.
He made those suggestions while highlighting the fact that dairies are exploiting the farmers and not giving them remunerative prices for the milk procured.
In Kolhapur, which is known as the milk hub of Maharashtra, some of the dairy farmers are lucky to get Rs 23 per litre for cow's milk while most earn in the range of Rs 17-19 per litre. The price they get is even less than the price of bottled water which costs Rs 20 a litre, a report in Times of India said.
The price that consumers pay for milk once it reaches cities is Rs 40-44 a litre but farmers feel cheated as they don't receive a share of that.
A global supply glut leading to crash in international prices of skimmed milk powder has caused the prices to plunge by Rs 4-10 per litre in the last eight months. This has led to widespread protests by dairy farmers. The crisis has become worse as several dairies announced a cut of Rs 2 per litre in procurement of milk and some of them refusing to buy cow's milk, the report stated.
"I make Rs 720 a day but spend Rs 1,000 on the cows. I used to make a profit of Rs 15,000 per month, but now I make a loss of Rs 9,000,” the report quoted Babasaheb Mane, a dairy farmer in Maharsahtra's Sangli, as saying. Both Mane and his wife now work as farm labourers to earn their living, the report added.
The crisis is rooted in the fact that the procurement prices have fallen over a period of last few months and the input costs have risen at the same time which has led to farm distress.
Maharashtra has seen a milk surplus of 22 lakh litres per day since November, the report said. During the same time prices of international skimmed milk powder fell by 30-40 per cent causing a loss to the dairies which in turn cut the prices paid to the farmers.
The state had hiked the procurement price of milk from Rs 24 to Rs 27 a litre but it failed to have an impact as most of the dairies are privately controlled and only 1 per cent of the milk is procured by the government. Around 39 per cent of the milk is procured by dairies controlled by the Congress and the NCP.
“When the Milk Control Order was in force till mid-2000, the state controlled licences to dairies. But now milk is an open commodity,” the report quoted state's dairy development commissioner Rajeev Jadhav as saying.
At the Niti Aayog's fourth governing council meeting, Maharashtra's chief minister Devendra Fadnavis suggested that the Centre should announce a minimum support price (MSP) for milk to support the dairy farmers at a time of crisis.
He also suggested that the Centre should announce subsidy for farmers.
He made those suggestions while highlighting the fact that dairies are exploiting the farmers and not giving them remunerative prices for the milk procured.