Excessive rain this month may have caused significant damage to standing crops across Karnataka, but it has presented the dairy sector with distress of a different type — overproduction of milk. It has left both producers and milk unions in a difficult situation.
The glut began with the early onset of the monsoon in June, resulting in a sharp rise in production.
Daily inflow to milk unions surged from the usual 75 lakh litres to 95 lakh litres, and even crossed the one-crore mark on several days in July and Aug. After a brief dry spell in Sept, copious rain since the beginning of Oct again saw a spike in production with Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) revealing procurement has again breached the one-crore litre mark.
“The concern is that overproduction will continue since more rain is forecast,” said HS Rajkumar, president of Bangalore Milk Union Ltd (Bamul). “Milk unions cannot keep procuring such large quantities unless the govt allows KMF to raise retail prices as chief minister Siddaramaiah recently promised.”
Crops such as paddy in Gangavathi and ragi in the southern districts have suffered. “These crops were supposed to be harvested in Oct, but they are now wet,” said Prof MN Thimme Gowda, head of agro-meteorology at University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK.
The milk glut is a double blow to the dairy sector. Unions are under pressure to continue procuring excess milk, even though the prices of dairy products like milk powder have dropped. Meanwhile, milk producers are struggling as they are not receiving fair prices for their produce.
Several milk unions, including those in Mandya, Ballari, and Kolar, have reduced procurement price from Rs 34 per litre to below Rs 29. The govt too has not responded to calls to increase incentive from Rs 5 per litre to Rs 10 and has not paid out incentives for over three months.
Last month, Siddaramaiah promised daily farmers to increase the retail price of milk from Rs 42 to Rs 47, with the additional Rs 5 going directly to farmers. However, a decision on the price revision, which is pending consultation with KMF officials, is unlikely before assembly bypolls on Nov 13.
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