TIRUCHY: Shortage of Aavin milk in Tiruchy by nearly 10,000 litres every week has left milk vendors struggling to meet customer demand. Milk producers attribute the crunch to private dairies offering higher procurement prices and prompt payments, which they say has led many farmers to shift away from Aavin.
Tiruchy District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union, which earlier covered Tiruchy, Ariyalur and Perambalur districts, had around 54,000 members from 573 cooperative societies and procured about 5.20 lakh litres of milk daily. Following the bifurcation of the union into the Tiruchy and Ariyalur-Perambalur units, the Tiruchy union now procures around 2 lakh to 2.20 lakh litres of milk a day from nearly 200 cooperative societies.
Presently, Aavin distributes around 1.5 lakh litres of milk daily in Tiruchy, while the remaining quantity is transported to Chennai. Cooperative milk producers’ associations have urged the state government to raise the procurement price by at least Rs 10/litre to protect both milk producers and the cooperative sector, arguing that the existing rates have remained unchanged for a long period despite a sharp rise in production costs. The thought was echoed by N Ganesan, State Joint Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Milk Producers’ Welfare Association, who said the current procurement price is no longer sufficient to sustain dairy farming.
“Private dairies generally pay between Rs 50 and Rs 55/litre for cow’s milk, and in some cases up to Rs 60/litre depending on the fat content. Since private players offer better prices than Aavin, many farmers have shifted their supplies.” He said the association has demanded that the procurement price for cow’s milk be increased from Rs 38 to Rs 44/litre and that for buffalo milk from Rs 47Rs 60/litre to safeguard the livelihood of dairy farmers.
“The supply has been steadily falling for the last 10 to 15 days, putting milk vendors in a difficult position,” said G Baskar, an Aavin milk booth agent in Woraiyur. “We normally receive around 1,000 litres a day, but now we get only 800 to 850 litres. We are managing to supply milk to cardholders and our regular customers, but we are unable to meet counter-sale demand. We are worried that the situation could worsen.”
K Sivakumar, another Aavin vendor from Thillai Nagar, said the shortage had already affected his business. He urged the authorities to prioritise local demand before transporting milk to Chennai. “We procure milk produced in Tiruchy. When local consumers are facing shortages, a large quantity should not be diverted to Chennai. Over the past 10 days, I have lost several customers because of the reduced supply,” he said. P Srinivasan, a tea shop owner in Thennur, said tea stalls and hotels have largely escaped from the shortage as they depend mainly on private dairy suppliers.
Attempts to contact C Muthumari, General Manager of the Tiruchy District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union (Aavin), for a response went in vain.