The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Sharp rise in procurement by Karnataka Milk Federation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 27, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Sharp rise in procurement by Karnataka Milk Federation

Sharath S. Srivatsa

Average daily milk procurement touches 35.99 lakh litres

On June 23, KMF recorded the highest-ever single day milk procurement
There has also been a rise in membership in over 10,000 milk societies across the State

BANGALORE: Drought may have brought down milk production in the State, but the Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation Ltd. (KMF) has seen a steep rise in milk procurement during the last one year with the daily average going up by about 3.5 lakh litres.

While the daily average procurement was 32.52 lakh litres in April-August 2008, it went up to 35.99 lakh litres during the same period in 2009. The sharp turnaround in milk procurement has come around following the announcement of Rs. 2 incentive by the Government last year, which has brought producers in hordes to the milk societies across the State.

In fact, on June 23 this year, the federation recorded the highest ever single day milk procurement when it collected 40.41 lakh litres. The federation has also seen a one-lakh rise in membership in over 10,000 milk societies across the State to over 20.2 lakh.

“Despite drought and scarcity of water, KMF’s milk procurement has not come down. Milk, which was going to private vendors and dairies, is now coming to us after the Rs. 2 incentive was announced,” KMF Managing Director M.N. Venkatramu told The Hindu. A recent informal survey conducted by the KMF revealed that in Bangalore alone, the procurement has gone up by one lakh litres a day while it is about 90,000 litres in Kolar, he added.

In previous years, the KMF recorded 4 to 5 per cent annual growth in milk procurement while it is about 13 per cent since the last one year, another official pointed out.

“Procurement price is dependent on the quality of milk. On an average, milk producers were getting Rs. 12.30 a litre earlier before the Government announced the additional Rs. 2 per litre,” the official said.

Buffalo milk producers, mostly confined to Belgaum, Dharwad and Bijapur regions, get an average of Rs. 13.50 a litre plus the incentive.

Not only has this incentive made animal husbandry a viable alternative, the official said, it had also succeeded in drawing many to this vocation. Meanwhile, the demand for cattle feed also rose by 10 per cent during this period. KMF, which has cattle feed production units at Gubbi, Hassan and Dharwad, used to supply about 23,000 tonnes before, and now the figure is 25,500 tonnes. “This could be also because of reduction in the availability of green fodder,” an official said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka