Cattle face heat, Aavin milk procurement dips by 5L litres
CHENNAI: The searing summer has led to heat stress in cattle affecting milk output from buffaloes and exotic and cross-breed milch cows. Because of this, the quantum of milk procured by Aavin daily in Tamil Nadu has dropped by five lakh litres over the last 10 days. The average procurement, which stood between 30 lakh and 31 lakh litres per day in March, has plummeted to 25 lakh litres since April 1.
While Aavin maintains that the drop in milk procurement is only one lakh litres compared to the same period last year when it was around 26 lakh litres per day, the situation may worsen in the coming days and may impact the production of allied products such as ice cream and milk sweets, industry sources said.
S Vineeth, Managing Director, Aavin, told TNIE that due to the heat wave, the milk yielding capacity of cattle has come down. “Temperature went up by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius in Dharmapuri and Tiruchy districts resulting in marginal dip in milk procurement. But the milk supply to our card holders and retail consumers has not been affected,” he said.
Vineeth further said, “We have already made preparations to compensate for the dip. We have adequate stock of milk powder. Aavin will also procure ghee for reconstitution of milk to increase the fat content,” he added.
Industry players, including Aavin and private dairies, rely heavily on exotic breeds such as Jersey and Holstein Friesian cows, as well as buffaloes, for milk production. Additionally, milk is sourced from crossbreeds of Jersey and HF variants. Milk produced by native breeds is mostly consumed by the cattle farmers and not used for commercial supply due to its low-fat content.
A veterinarian attached to Aavin told TNIE, “Compared to native breeds, exotic and crossbreed milch cows are less thermo tolerant. Due to heat stress, the food intake of milch cows decreases significantly thereby affecting their milk yielding ability.”
‘Output from pvt dairies on decline’
Buffalo milk, which is used in the production of milk products including palkova and other items, is also affected as buffaloes are more susceptible to heat stress due to fewer sweat glands than exotic cow breeds, the official said.
M G Rajendran of the Tamil Nadu Milk Producers’ Welfare Association said, “The milk output from private dairies has also declined marginally across the state. Three decades ago, dairy farmers used to receive veterinary assistance throughout the year from both Aavin and animal husbandry department, but now these posts (veterinarians) have been outsourced.
Animal husbandry clinics do not have adequate number of veterinarians, forcing farmers to incur additional expenditure for animal treatment.”