VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy virtually launched the Jagananna Palavelluva-AP Amul Project in Krishna district from his camp office in Tadepalli on Wednesday. The state government’s initiative is meant to give a financial boost to dairy farmers of 264 villages in the district.
Speaking at the launch, he said previously there was a buyer’s monopoly in the state due to which the dairy farmers incurred losses and had meagre income. “The government has launched the project in partnership with Amul, to give a fillip to the empowerment of women self-help groups by encouraging milk cooperatives in the government sector, so that farmers can earn profitable revenue,” he explained.
Milk is already being procured from 1,046 villages in Guntur, Chittoor, Kadapa, Prakasam and West Godavari districts under the project.
He said, “Amul is not a company, but it is the largest cooperative in the country and globally stands eighth in terms of milk processing. All women who supply milk to Amul are its real owners.”
Since last December, Amul has procured over 168.50 lakh litres of milk from 30,951 women dairy farmers in five districts and paid Rs 71 crore to them. “This (the revenue) is not a small thing, given the fact that the women farmers have earned Rs 10 crore more than what they would have if milk was supplied to other companies,” he said.
Reiterating that the very objective of bringing Amul to AP is to enhance women empowerment opportunities, he said in the Krishna district alone, 37,474 dairy farmers and 51 milk centres have been identified. He stated that the farmers are earning Rs 20 to Rs 30 more on each litre of milk as Amul is paying Rs 74.78 per litre against Rs 44.80 by Krishna Milk Union.
Bulk cooling, milk collection units to be set up in 2 years
“Amul also shares profits with the farmers who supply milk for a minimum of 182 days. It provides quality fodder at low prices through AMCUs. In order to ensure that all women are paid in a transparent manner on the basis of quality checks, bulk milk cooling and automatic milk collection units will be set up as part of the project in the next two years,” he explained.
The Chief Minister said many dairy cooperatives took the private route previously as those in the government had interests in private dairies and never bothered about the cooperatives or the welfare of dairy farmers. “Because of Amul, all other dairies are being forced to pay a decent price to the farmers now,” he said.
On the occasion, he reminded that the government had established a Market Intervention Fund to prevent farmers from selling their produce at lower prices because of middlemen, and also procured all sorts of crops through price stabilisation fund by providing remunerative prices.
Jagan said his efforts are to ensure that women are empowered and cooperative dairy progresses, thereby providing a steady income to those who are dependent on dairy for livelihood, and ensuring that they are not cheated by middlemen. “Those who have been looting the hard work of women dairy farmers are now worried and criticising the government, which has put a check on them by bringing Amul to AP,” he added.