Kendrapara: Milk farmers in the district are a worried lot following a sharp drop in procurement of milk from farmers by the dairy companies due to Covid-19 restrictions. Moreover, a sharp rise in fodder and medicine prices for cattle has added to their woes.
This has sparked resentment among farmers as they fear losing their livelihood if the government does not alleviate their problems.
Reports said various dairy companies and the state-owned OMFED have reduced their quotas of milk they purchase from farmers after the enforcement of shutdown.
OMFED lifts 35,000 litres of milk daily from the farmers while Pragati Dairy at Ramiaganj lifts 30,000 litres. The Odisha Dairy at Marshaghai Crossing lifts 10,000 litres while Milky Moo Dairy lifts 25,000 litres daily from the primary cooperative societies of farmers in the district.
This apart, various sweetmeat shops and tea stalls lift around 50,000 litres of milk daily from the farmers. Moreover, 10 quintals of cheese are transported to various districts. A single household having three cows earns Rs 6,000 per month from milk sale.
Various dairy companies have already announced their decision while OMFED announced it Friday to purchase only four lakh litres of milk. This has left milk farmers here clueless.
The shutdown has stopped sale of milk products with all hotels, sweetmeat shops, restaurants and tea stalls lying closed. Various milk producing farms have either stopped buying milk from farmers or reduced their daily quotas of milk purchased from them.
The district being an agricultural district, cattle and buffalo rearing is the prime occupation of over 2 lakh people here. People here have held onto their occupation despite a shrink in pasture land.
These two lakh people alone hold over 310,000 cattle from which they produce milk and various milk-based products. These farmers have borrowed heavily for cattle rearing but they find it impossible to repay their loans.
Out of the total cattle population, over 170,000 are of indigenous varieties while 130,000 are hybrid. Similarly, the buffalo population in the district is over 10,000. While cattle rearing is the main occupation of people in various blocks, buffalo rearing is mainly done in Mahakalapara and Marshaghai blocks.
Milk farmers Niranjan Parida, Jagdish Pati, Sk. Asikuddin, confectioner Kailash Sahu and social activist Amarbar Biswal said Covid restrictions have hit the milk farmers hard.
PNN