Dairy farmers in Telangana, who are reeling under high cost of production, have asked the State government to release the ‘milk incentive’ dues that are unpaid for over three years.
They allege that though the government is allocating about ₹75 crore in the Budget every year, the amount is not being released, leaving lakhs of farmers disappointed.
After assuming power in 2014, the TRS government announced an incentive of ₹4 a litre of milk procured by cooperative dairies to help them mitigate spiralling cost of production. This offered a breather to the dairy farmers and played a role in increasing milk production in the State.
Key role in milk production growth
Over 29 lakh farmers have enrolled themselves to avail of the incentive. “We have spent about ₹360 crore so far on the scheme. It played a key role in increasing milk production by 38 per cent after the formation of the State,” a government official said.
The milk production went up to 58 lakh tonnes in 2021-22 from 42 lakh tonnes in 2014-15. The incentive encouraged farmers to produce more milk and sell it to the societies to avail the benefit. The milk procurement has gone up by over five times to 5.60 lakh litres a day from 1.17 lakh litres a day.
“The cost of production has gone up significantly. The government is not paying the milk incentive. It has also reduced the subsidy on the purchase of cows and buffaloes,” Teegala Sagar, General Secretary of Telangana Rythu Sangham, told businessline. He pegged the dues at ₹150 crore.
‘Focus on strengthening the Vijaya dairy’
K Bala Reddy, Secretary of Progressive Dairy Farmers’ Association, demands the government to increase the incentive by ₹2 a litre to make it ₹6.
Stating that the cost of production has gone up significantly since the government launched the incentive scheme, he said it would cost about ₹40-41 to produce a litre of cow milk and ₹50 for a litre of buffalo milk.
Reddy urged the government to focus on strengthening the Vijaya dairy. “While its contemporaries like Nandini (Karnataka) and Amul (Gujarat) are thriving, the State’s cooperative dairy is not doing well. It needs to be revitalised,” he said.
S Ramesh, President of a Bulk Milk Centre of Chilpur Mandal, concurs. He said the cost of key feed complementaries like mineral mixers and calcium has gone up by at least ₹200 (a packet of 5 kg and 10 litres respectively), making it prohibitive for small farmers.