Due to a drastic decrease in the production of milk and farmers opting to sell their existing produce at a higher rate, milk prices in Mumbai will rise by ₹2 per litre from this week. The last revision, in the price of milk, was less than a month ago. What's more, it is being pegged that the prices can rise further by Rs 8-10 in the summer.
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As stated in Hindustan Times, Director of Gokul Arun Narke stated that Mumbai needs around 80 lakh litres of milk daily out of which 35 lakh litres is sold as loose milk. Of the remaining 45 lakh litres, 15 lakh litres are supplied by Amul, eight lakh litres by Gokul and two lakh litres each by Nandini and Mahanand. Gokul previously received 13 lakh litres from farmers which have now been reduced to 11.50 lakh litres. The prices of milk will be increased by ₹2 per litre as this amount will be paid to the farmers and the hike will be passed on to the consumer.
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Owing to the floods in 2018 in the region of Kolhapur and Sangli and unseasonal rains at the end of 2019, the backbone of farmers has been affected drastically. It has further destroyed the dairy infrastructure in this belt.
On the national level, the increase in the fodder price along with a decrease in production is being cited as the reason for the rising prices of milk. An official from the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, while speaking to ThePrint, said that, private dairies and milk cooperatives have reported 10-15 per cent lower procurement over the “flush” season of October to March when milk production goes up 50 per cent. He even added that the situation will get grimmer in the lean period of April-September.
The silver lining in this is that farmers are now able to get better prices for milk. In Maharashtra, farmers are now able to get Rs 31-32 per litre for cow milk, as compared to Rs 21-22 per litre in 2019.
There is also a demand that the central government should consider importing milk in order to ease the ongoing crises.
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