A group of dairy farmers in the district under the aegis of the Primary Milk Societies Association took out a march and staged a dharna in front of the Milma dairy plant at Chuzhaly here on Saturday, raising a slew of demands including a hike in the milk procurement price.
Speaking after inaugurating the protest, C.K. Saseendran, MLA, said the milk production in the district had reached an all-time high but dairy farmers were facing a severe crisis owing to increasing input costs and lower return.
The Central government had recently listed the dairy industry under the industrial sector and such a move would adversely affect thousands of marginal farmers in the country, he said. Hence, the government should reconsider placing the dairy industry under the agriculture sector, he said.
The prices of fodder and cattle feed had increased considerably in the past few years, but the farm gate price of milk was yet to be revised.
Hence, the government should hike the price in keeping with the changing scenario, he said.
If the government could not hike the price, it should adopt steps to ensure that dairy farmers were getting incentives throughout the year with financial assistance from Milma, the Dairy Development Department, and the three-tier local administrative bodies, he said.
The protesters also raised demands such as resumption of the insurance policies implemented by Milma and hike in the chilling and transportation charges.