BENGALURU: Congress legislators in the Assembly on Wednesday urged Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to increase the milk procurement price to help dairy farmers, while JDS MLA HD Revanna demanded that 60% of any hike be passed on to Cooperative Milk Producers’ Unions which come under Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF).
Revanna is the president of the Hassan Cooperative Milk Producers’ Society Union (HAMUL). Participating in the debate on drought, Kunigal MLA Dr H D Ranganath urged the CM to raise the milk price by Rs 8 to Rs 10 per litre. Malur MLA K Y Nanjegowda also sought a Rs 10-per-litre increase, saying rising input costs had made dairy farming increasingly unviable.
Revanna said the 16 milk producers’ cooperative unions had proposed a hike but were already incurring losses because they had to bear the cost of milk that remained unsold. “The unions are facing losses of around Rs 180 crore annually - nearly Rs 50 lakh a day and Rs 15 crore a month. Hence, 60% of the increase in milk price should go to the unions,” he urged the CM.
Nanjegowda said the price of cattle feed has increased from Rs 700-750 a bag to Rs 1,250, while the cost of purchasing a cow had crossed Rs 1.5 lakh. Mandatory insurance and other rising input costs had further increased the burden on dairy farmers, he said.
“Milk producers are facing difficulties. Unless the price is revised, there will be no future for either dairy farmers or the Nandini brand,” he said.