A good monsoon has caused a glut of milk this season in the country. With their increased procurement burden, the milk cooperatives have lowered the procurement price. However, it has not gone down well with the poor farmers engaged in milk production in the country. There is some degree of resentment noticeable among them.
All dairy companies other than dairy cooperatives have reduced the procurement price to be given to farmers without passing the benefits on to the consumer. Credit goes to AMUL for not reducing the payment to be made to its members.
Mother dairy and Paras are the two companies that have cut the procurement price and refused to effect a matching reduction in the price of milk for consumers. Observers of the dairy scene in the country consider their refusal to do so unfair and incomprehensible.
In contrast, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation the largest player with Amul brand in the country has refrained from buying the milk at a reduced price even if its procurement has spiked to a whopping 19 percent. Talking to Indiancooperative.com R S Sodhi, Managing Director of GCMMF said that farmers’ gain is uppermost in our mind. GCMMF’s gesture demonstrates that the long-term business relationships should have precedence over the immediate small gains.
Mother dairy’s procurement has gone up by about 30 percent and it could indeed be used for balancing the supply in times of shortage especially in summer, claimed mother dairy sources.