Aavin's procurement price hike disappoints milk producers

Aavin's procurement cost hike disappoints milk producers Hike of ₹3 unveiled by State administration on Wednesday unsatisfactory, say milk producers' associations, demand a hike of ₹20 in total – ₹10 in procurement rate, ₹10 in incentive; underlines higher rates offered by private dairies and Aavin's declining procurement.

Key points

• Rajendran, president of Tamil Nadu Milk Producers Welfare Association, remarked producers will stop supplying milk to Aavin from August 24 to press for a higher procurement rate hike.
• Perumal, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Milk Producers Association, remarked the government's hike of ₹3 per litre, including ₹1 as procurement rate hike and ₹2 as incentive, disappointed milk producers.
• Perumal remarked Tamil Nadu produces 2 crore litres of milk a day, and private dairy businesses offer ₹10 higher than Aavin's procurement cost per litre.
• To put this in perspective, if 100 farmers provided milk to an Aavin milk cooperative society earlier, it is just 15 now, he remarked.
• Dairy farmers staging a protest demanding that Aavin hike milk procurement cost by ₹10 per litre.

Dairy farmers staging a protest demanding that Aavin hike milk procurement cost by ₹10 per litre. Photo Credit: File photo.

In practice, the hike in milk procurement cost unveiled by the State administration seems to have disappointed dairy farmers and other milk producers. It was on Wednesday that Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay confirmed a ₹3 hike per litre of milk procured by Aavin. This, milk producers remarked, was unsatisfactory.

P. Perumal, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Milk Producers Association, remarked the government's hike of ₹3 per litre, including ₹1 as procurement rate hike and ₹2 as incentive, disappointed milk producers. At present, the procurement rate of ₹38 per litre was given for milk with 4.3% fat and 8.2% solid Non-Fat (SNF).

He highlighted how, over the past four years, the cost of fodder rose by 100%. Milk producers had been demanding that the administration rise milk procurement cost by ₹20 per litre, including ₹10 as procurement rate and ₹10 as an incentive, to offset cost and encourage supply of quality milk to Aavin. In response, the administration hiked the procurement rate by just ₹3 per litre.

Mr. Perumal remarked Tamil Nadu produces 2 crore litres of milk a day, and private dairy businesses offer ₹10 higher than Aavin's procurement cost per litre. As such, is able to procure only 34 lakh litres of milk per day, aavin.

To put this in perspective, if 100 farmers provided milk to an Aavin milk cooperative society earlier, it is just 15 now, he remarked. Consequently, it is not feasible for Aavin to sell quality milk at an affordable rate. At present, private dairies charge ₹20 more per litre than Aavin does.

For context, a green packet (containing 4.5% fat and 8.5% SNF) of Aavin milk is sold for ₹44 per litre, whereas the same kind of milk is sold by private dairies for ₹68-₹71 per litre. Likewise, Aavin's orange milk packets (containing 6% fat and 9% SNF) are sold for ₹60 per litre whereas the same kind of milk is sold by private dairies for ₹78-₹82 per litre.

Therefore, the Tamil Nadu Milk Producers Association is requesting the administration and Aavin to reconsider and rise the procurement cost by ₹10 per litre and the incentive by ₹10 per litre to protect the interests of milk producers, the Aavin Cooperative Societies, and the public, Mr. Perumal continued.

R. Rajendran, president of Tamil Nadu Milk Producers Welfare Association, remarked producers will stop supplying milk to Aavin from August 24 to press for a higher procurement rate hike.

R. Velusamy, president of Uzhavar Perunthalaivar Narayanasamy Naidu's Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, too, pressed the administration to growth the Aavin milk procurement rate by ₹10 per litre and asserted that the current hike of ₹3 hike is insufficient.

In short, aavin' s procurement price hike disappoints milk producers is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.