UMERKOTE: Dairy farmers from Umerkote in Nabarangpur district on Saturday were forced to spill thousands of litres of fresh milk on the streets following the abrupt suspension of procurement by the local chilling centre of Odisha State Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation (Omfed).
Eyewitnesses said that farmers poured nearly 20,000 litres of milk onto the roads after arriving to sell their produce at the Omfed centre in Umerkote. The Omfed reportedly stopped milk procurement citing storage and processing constraints at the Jeypore dairy plant, leaving hundreds of farmers without buyers for their daily produce. Furious over the sudden disruption, farmers dumped milk outside the chilling centre in protest, exposing what they described as the “complete collapse” of the dairy support system.
Local officials claimed that the Jeypore Omfed unit had refused to accept additional supplies due to exhausted storage capacity. While the region had earlier supplied around 5,000 to 6,000 litres of milk daily, procurement reportedly surged to nearly 17,000 litres.
The farmers warned of a district-wide agitation if procurement is not restored immediately. They demanded urgent intervention from the state government, alleging official apathy towards their plight.
Milk procurement officer Krushna Chandra Sahu confirmed that there is a lack of storage space at the chilling centre due to which milk cannot be procured. “Efforts are underway to resolve this issue as soon as possible,” he added.