Dairy development minister S M Nasar had assured on Thursday that Aavin milk supply would not be affected due to the strike.
Union treasurer K Inbaraj said that out of 1.3 lakh litres of milk supplied to Madurai Aavin by dairy farmers in the district, about 50,000 litres of supply stopped on Friday. “Farmers of Usilampatii, Thirumangalam, Yelumalai and Peraiyur stopped supplying milk, we have got an assurance from farmers of Vadipatti and Sholavandan to stop milk production tomorrow. If they do, it would spell trouble for Madurai Aavin,” he added.
Tamil Nadu milk producers union, affiliated to CITU, has not stopped milk supply, but has extended support to the strike by the producers’ welfare union. Tamil Nadu milk producers union district president Venmani Chandran said, “We will also join the strike in two or three days if the government doesn’t come forward for talks to increase procurement price to 42 per litre.”
He said that in many milk booths, consumers were rationed one packet from Friday. “If the strike continues, residents will struggle to get even a packet of milk from Saturday,” he added.
In October, milk cooperative unions in the state were demanding a rise of 10 from the 2022 procurement price level, which was 32. The state government after consulting milk producer unions increased the procurement to 35 on October 20.
This meagre rise disappointed the unions. Private agencies are ready to give around 45 per litre. If the state co-operative doesn’t increase procurement price, farmers are ready to sell milk to private agencies, they said.
