Excess stocks of skimmed milk powder (SMP) have turn into a matter of concern for Maharashtra’s milk sector. The state’s inventory of SMP has reached practically 50,000 tonnes. As a outcome, dairy owners in the state say that they are not in a position to hike milk procurement rates for farmers. Dairies in the state spend farmers Rs 23-24 per litre. Before the lockdown, dairy farmers had been getting paid a comparatively greater procurement cost of Rs 30-35 per litre.
Dashrath Mane, chairman, Sonai Group, the biggest private-sector player in the state mentioned due to the mismatch involving demand and provide triggered by the ongoing pandemic, demand for milk and milk merchandise was reduced. “On one hand there is less demand in the market-leading to stockpiling of unsold milk powder and on the other hand we cannot turn back farmers who come to us. It has become difficult to manage payments. If this situation continues, procurement prices may go down further,” he mentioned. Dairies in the state now spend farmers Rs 23 per litre to Rs 24 per litre. Before the lockdown, dairy farmers had been getting paid a procurement cost of Rs 30-35 per litre.
The SMP inventory levels have crossed 50,000 tonnes in the state and unless these are sold, the sentiment in the dairy sector will stay weak. The state had faced a comparable trouble in the year 2018 following which the government had announced an export subsidy of Rs 50 per kg. Exporting milk powder will lift demand and strengthen sentiment, he mentioned. Dairies in the state and other Milk Federations in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Punjab have been searching for export subsidies as effectively, he mentioned.
Satej Patil, head of the Kolhapur District Co-operative Milk Producers Union, which owns Gokul, the biggest-promoting milk brand in Maharashtra, mentioned that dairies in the state have been searching for export subsidies from the Centre to overcome the trouble of excess milk powder stocks. Gokul alone has stocks of 4,000 tonnes of SMP. He mentioned the dairy is attempting to sell at least 1,000 tonnes by means of the National Cooperative Dairy Federation of India (NCDFI). According to Patil, a subsidy of Rs one hundred per kg is required to overcome the present crisis in the sector.
Last week, Gokul announced a hike in rates in the State, by Rs 2 for buffalo milk and Rs 1 for cow milk. Last month, having said that, farmer organisations agitated for greater procurement rates for milk. The state government relented and announced that Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) would be thought of for the dairy sector on the lines of the sugar segment.
Maharashtra State Milk Producers and Processing Professionals’ Welfare Association Secretary Prakash Kutwal mentioned that SMP rates have lowered to Rs 170-180 per kg as compared to Rs 260 per kg just before the lockdowns in the state. Now if the third Covid wave hits the state as predicted, the dairy sector shall be badly impacted and it will turn into complicated for dairies to spend farmers, he mentioned.