KOCHI: With production cost rising, Milma may increase the price of milk, said Milma’s Ernakulam Regional Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union chairman M T Jayan on Monday. He said dairy farmers are in a bad situation financially as the production cost has increased considerably even when revenue remains paltry.
“Hence, it has become of utmost importance to increase the revenue of dairy farmers. We have urged the Kerala Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation to increase the price of milk by at least Rs 6 per litre,” he said.Currently, a litre of toned milk costs Rs 46, homogenised standardised milk Rs 52, double toned milk Rs 44 and homogenised toned milk Rs 50.
The matter was discussed at a meeting held recently at Thiruvananthapuram, Jayan said. “Experts from the agriculture and veterinary universities have been tasked with studying production cost. The report will be submitted in two weeks,” he said. The union, under which the districts of Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur and Kottayam fall, expect sales of around 25 lakh litres of milk from September 4 to 7. “Steps have been taken to ensure the availability of milk. Talks have been initiated with the milk marketing federations in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,” he added.