The Ernakulam Region Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union (ERCMPU) has decided to pay farmers an additional ₹3 a litre for milk being collected by the union from March 1, 2021. The cooperative has been paying an additional ₹1.50 per litre to its farmers since February 1 this year.

Chairman of the Ernakulam region John Theruvath said that the the additional payment would be an incentive for farmers. The decision to hike the payment to farmers was taken at the 34th annual meeting of the regional milk union here earlier this month.

He said that the Ernakulam regional cooperative union, comprising Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kottayam and Idukki districts, had been able to procure milk from all the farmers under the cooperative during the COVID-19 lockdown despite a slowdown in business even as dairy farmers across the country had suffered a setback because of the lockdown.

The decision to provide an incentive to farmers comes even as the region is preparing to export milk products, including clarified butter, to the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the milk producers’ union has appealed to government agencies to consider dairy farmers as well as workers involved in procurement and distribution of milk in the priority category for COVID-19 vaccination.