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Dairy farmers seek government assistance

KANNUR: Dairy farmers in the Malabar region have said that the milk production sector in the region is facing a crisis owing to the substantial increase in the price of cattle feed and hay.

Office-bearers of the Traditional Milk Societies’ Association (TMSA), the Malabar Regional Milk Producers’ Co-operative Union (MRMPCU) and APCOS (Anand Pattern Milk Co-operative Societies) Association said at a press meet here on Thursday that the price of cattle feed, hay and squeezed oilseed cakes had recorded huge increase over the last one year. Many dairy farmers in the region had already started leaving the sector and milk production had come down considerably, they said.

TMSA president M.A. Hamsa, union director V.T. Joseph and Apcos Association president Thomas Elapra said at a press conference here on Thursday that the price of cattle feed has increased to Rs.530 from Rs.450 a bag of 50kg. The price of squeezed copra cakes increased steeply from Rs.12 to Rs.21a kg and that of hay from Rs.12 to Rs.16 a bundle, they said. They said that the sector would not survive if the existing situation continued.

They urged the authorities to take steps to distribute cattle feed at a subsidised rate to check recurrent price hike. Special Calf Rearing Scheme should be implemented in all panchayats, they said. The existing scheme to distribute grass to dairy farmers at subsidised rates should be expanded and steps must taken to ensure distribution of veterinary medicines and government veterinary hospitals, they said.

They also urged the government to either allow Milma to fix price of milk or constitute a commission to decide milk price. Each milk producers’ cooperative society must be treated as a group to get benefits of the People’s Planning schemes, they added.

Meanwhile, in Kozhikode, Food, Civil Supplies and Dairy Development Minister C. Divakaran said that restructuring of Milma and Animal Husbandry Department was necessary. He was launching ‘Wayanad Coffee’ a new brand of coffee by Malabar Rural Development Foundation under the Malabar Region Cooperative Milk Producers Union (MRCMPU) of Milma on Thursday. The Minister said that the State would achieve self-sufficiency in milk production in two years. Efforts were also on to make it self-sufficient in meat production also.

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