The Gulbarga-Bidar Milk Union has reduced procurement price of milk by Rs. 1.5 a litre.
“The
sudden fall in the price of milk powder forced us to reduce the price,”
union president Mallikarjun Biradar told presspersons here on
Wednesday.
However, the reduction was temporary and
would be reversed in two months, he added. “We will start paying the
full amount after two months,” he said. He clarified that the union was
not reducing the quantum of procurement.
All the
district unions in the State are facing problems due to fall in the milk
powder price. While other unions have reduced the procurement price by
around Rs. 4, we have reduced it by Rs. 1.5, he added.
According
to him, the union procures 80,000 litres of milk a day. “We sell around
60,000 litres of milk and 4,000 litres of curds a day. The remaining
15,000 –16,000 litres of milk is converted into skimmed milk powder. We
are unable to sell this profitably. Even when we find buyers, the price
is low and payment is delayed. In recent times, the price has seen a
steep fall,” he said.
“This has led to accumulated
losses. We suffer an average loss of Rs. 8.5 a litre for the milk
procured. We want to reduce the loss and, hence, the reduction in the
procurement price,” he said.
He clarified that the union would continue to pay the State government’s incentive price of Rs. 2 a litre to farmers.
Mr.
Biradar claimed that the union had increased procurement four-fold to
80,000 litres a day from 19,000 litres a day two years ago. “We have
also started a system of weekly payment to farmers,” he added.
Officials said the reduction in prices was inevitable.Criticism
However,
this decision has not gone down well with farmers. “This government has
been taking anti-farmer steps since it came to power. This is the
latest in that series,” said Siddappa Metre, Karnataka Pranta Raitha
Sangha leader.
“The BJP came to power promising to
pay cash incentives to milk producers. Now, it is betraying us,” he said
and added that the KMF and unions had to work on increasing their
efficiency.
Marketing
The
union had big plans to market its products more efficiently, Mr. Biradar
said. This would help us sell more milk and other produce, he said.
“We
are tying up with the North East Karnataka Transport Corporation to set
up milk booths at bus-stands in Hyderabad Karnataka districts. Managing
Director of the Karnataka Milk Federation Harsha Gupta and NEKRTC
Managing Director G.N. Shivamurthy have agreed to this plan. We have
asked the NEKRTC to give us stalls of 100 sq ft each at bus-stands on
rental. We will outsource the management of the stalls,” Mr. Biradar
said.
The union is also writing to all urban local
bodies in Hyderabad Karnataka districts to provide space to set up
stalls in all wards in cities and towns. “In Bidar, we have requested
the district administration and the City Municipal Council to give us
land in all the 31 wards so that we can set up shops in residential
areas,” he said.
The union also plans an awareness
rally about the good effects of consuming milk and the ill-effects of
using adulterated milk. “We have noticed that some private companies are
selling adulterated milk. The first rally will be in Bidar on Friday.
We will organise rallies in all districts later,” he added.
More:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/union-reduces-procurement-price-of-milk/article4075892.ece
