The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Milk shortage may continue

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 09, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Milk shortage may continue

Staff Reporter

Milma taking steps to solve scarcity

KOCHI: Milk shortage in the State may last for few more months as milk production has come down drastically.

The shortage was likely to prolong till May though Milma was taking all possible measures to solve the scarcity, said T.P. Gopala Kurup, chairman, Milma.

Besides the regular factors such as drought, reduced availability of grass for cattle, increased fodder price and increased demand, the reduced supply from Karnataka hit the State hard, he said.

Milma was facing a shortage of around 4 lakh litres a day.

The demand for Milma milk in the State was 11 lakh litres a day. ``Though Milma is procuring milk powder from Gujarat at a premium price for re-constructing it to milk, the situation will improve only if we can manage an additional 2.5 lakh litres a day. The milk supply from Tamil Nadu stopped two months ago, which has worsened the situation," he said.

Adding to the woes of the milkmen was the fall in the number of milk producers. Many farmers were leaving the sector citing low returns, said T.P. Markose, chairman, Ernakulam Regional Cooperative Milk Producers Union.

Many milk booths had gone dry in the city these days and the supply lines cut. A large number of households in the city had to go in for black tea or coffee to begin their day.

In Kochi, the demand was around 2.5 lakh litres a day. The shortage was 70,000 litres a day, Mr. Markose said.

The sudden increase in the number of consumers also affected Milma. It was estimated that nearly one-lakh customers had been added to the Milma during the past few weeks as many private supplies failed to provide milk, officials said.

The Milma was taking all efforts to solve the milk shortage by attempting to increase the milk production and procure maximum quantities of milk from the local market.

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