CHENNAI: Few private milk companies from neighbouring states have been offering higher procurement prices to dairy farmers in Tamil Nadu as milk production in Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and other states have been affected by an outbreak of lumpy skin disease, said S M Nasar, minister for milk and dairy development, here on Wednesday.
“Out of 9,843 primary cooperative milk producer societies, about 2,000 functioning in the border districts of the state have diverted their produce to private companies for a higher price due to which milk procurement of Aavin has slightly come down,” Nasar told press reporters at the secretariat.
“Notices will be sent by the dairy development to 2,000 cooperative milk producer societies, seeking an explanation for the abrupt decrease in milk supply. If any of these societies are found to have breached the law, appropriate measures will be taken to dissolve them,” he added.
Since January of last year, over 3 lakh cattle in Karnataka have been affected by lumpy skin disease, resulting in the deaths of 29,000. In addition, over 76,000 cattle have died in Rajasthan and 34,000 in Maharashtra from the disease. “The government’s precautionary measures have protected cattle and farmers from lumpy skin disease. The private companies from Andhra are enticing farmers with higher prices to buy milk,” added Nasar.
Over the past few months, Aavin’s milk procurement has plunged from 37 to 27 lakh litre a day. This has affected milk supply to Chennai city, causing delays for the past few days. In the midst of this, dairy farmers in Madurai, Thoothukudi, Erode and few other regions have threatened to halt milk supply to Aavin if the procurement price is not raised. “A meeting with representatives of dairy farmers will be held on Thursday and their grievances will be addressed,” said Nasar. He further accused leader of the opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami for disseminating false information about Aavin.