The prevailing drought-like situation in parts of the country has led to farmers selling more milk in the market. This is reflected from the 10-25 per cent rise in milk procurement that co-operatives and corporates have registered largely from the dry-spell hit areas.

The Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), the largest milk co-operative that owns the Amul brand, has registered an average increase of 16 per cent in daily milk procurement, said R.S. Sodhi, Managing Director. Large parts of Gujarat, where the GCMMF operates, have been hit by the dry spell this year.

Surplus trend

Farmers tend to sell more of milk, which becomes the only source of income when crops are hit by poor rains, Sodhi said. The average daily milk procurement by GCMMF stood at 10.30 million kg in 2011-12.

“The surplus trend in milk output that the country witnessed last year still continues,” said R.G. Chandramogan, Chairman and Managing Director of Hatsun Agro Product Ltd, a Chennai-headquartered dairy products company.

Hatsun, which also operates from parts of Karnataka, has registered a 23 per cent rise in milk procurement in July to over 2 million litres from 1.625 million litres in corresponding month last year, Chandramogan said.

The increase in prices offered by the dairies last year to the farmers is aiding the procurement trend.

Maharashtra output

However, in southern parts of Maharashtra milk production is estimated to be down by about a tenth on poor rains in the region where fodder and feed scarcity looms large.

“Production is down by 5-10 per cent, but it is not that visible. However, our procurement has gone up by 10-11 per cent,” said D.V. Ghanekar, Managing Director of Kolhapur District Co-operative Milk Producers Union, which sells milk products under Gokul brand. “Our procurement has gone up by 60,000-70,000 litres per day (LPD) to 6 lakh LPD,” he said.

Drought helps

“The growth in milk output may largely remain same as that of last year, but the procurement goes up normally in the first year of drought, as it becomes the only source of income for farmers when crops fail,” said R.S. Khanna, dairy industry expert.

He estimates the country’s overall milk production to sustain a growth of 3-4 per cent this year too. The Government is yet to officially announce milk production numbers for 2011-12, while the output stood at 122.8 million tonnes for 2010-11.

>vishwanath.kulkarni@thehindu.co.in

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