SALEM: Milk procurement by Aavin in Salem was impacted on Monday as members of the Tamil Nadu Milk Producers Welfare Association boycotted milk supply to cooperative societies, demanding a higher procurement price. The boycott was observed at several places in the district, with farmers gathering outside cooperative societies with milk cans and refusing to supply milk to Aavin.
The protest was held at various locations, including Pagalpatti in Omalur, Selliyampalayam in Attur and Puthupalayam in Vazhapadi. In some places, protesting farmers poured the milk down on the road after bringing it to the cooperative societies, signalling their refusal to supply it to Aavin at the existing procurement price.
The association has been demanding that the procurement price be increased to Rs 44 a litre for cow milk from the current Rs 41 per litre and to Rs 60 a litre for buffalo milk from the current Rs 47 per litre. The farmers had earlier staged protests and warned that they would boycott milk procurement if the government did not accept their demand for a revision in the prices to be paid by Aavin.
The State government had recently increased the milk procurement price by `3 a litre from August 19, raising the effective rate paid to dairy farmers supplying milk to State-run cooperative societies from `38 to `41 a litre. However, the association members said the hike was inadequate and went ahead with the boycott.
The protest affected milk collection at several cooperative societies in Salem, with farmers withholding their daily supply. According to the association, Aavin's milk procurement across Tamil Nadu, which is normally around 27 lakh litres a day, had fallen by around three lakh litres on Monday due to the boycott.
In Salem, where Aavin normally procures around 5.30 lakh litres of milk a day, sources said procurement had declined by around 65,000 litres on Monday.
Following the government's call for talks, members of the association announced that they were temporarily suspending the protest. The decision was taken after officials of the concerned departments and Ministers sought discussions with the farmers on their demands.