Hyderabad: Milk procurement by state-run Vijaya Dairy has dropped from five lakh litres per day two years ago to less than three lakh litres per day now. There has been a 40% decrease in milk procurement by Telangana State Dairy Development Cooperative Federation (TSDDCF) which sells packaged milk and milk products.
The reason behind this dip can be attributed to procurement strategies by private players, lower production of milk, among others. Taking a serious note of this, animal husbandry minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav has ordered an inquiry. “Despite the government extending support to the TSDDCF, procurement has dropped by 40% which is unacceptable,” the minister told officials. On the instructions of the minister, special teams have been formed to conduct an inquiry at state, district and village level. The teams will also speak to the dairy farmers at the village level and submit its report by the end of this month.
Yadav said the government has distributed 65,000 buffaloes. “Instead of the milk production increasing facilitating a rise in procurement by Vijaya Dairy, the procurement has gone down. Also, probe the involvement of officials and if there is any role in helping the private dairies,” the minister directed the top officials of animal husbandry department.
When contacted, TSDDCF managing director G Srinivasa Rao confirmed to STOI that the milk procurement has come down by 40 per cent due to various factors including aggressive marketing by private dairies and production coming down to climatic factors. “The production is low and also the milk powder stocks have exhausted. The private dairies were quick to offer a better price to the farmers to raise their procurement targets,” he said.
The reason behind this dip can be attributed to procurement strategies by private players, lower production of milk, among others. Taking a serious note of this, animal husbandry minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav has ordered an inquiry. “Despite the government extending support to the TSDDCF, procurement has dropped by 40% which is unacceptable,” the minister told officials. On the instructions of the minister, special teams have been formed to conduct an inquiry at state, district and village level. The teams will also speak to the dairy farmers at the village level and submit its report by the end of this month.
Yadav said the government has distributed 65,000 buffaloes. “Instead of the milk production increasing facilitating a rise in procurement by Vijaya Dairy, the procurement has gone down. Also, probe the involvement of officials and if there is any role in helping the private dairies,” the minister directed the top officials of animal husbandry department.
When contacted, TSDDCF managing director G Srinivasa Rao confirmed to STOI that the milk procurement has come down by 40 per cent due to various factors including aggressive marketing by private dairies and production coming down to climatic factors. “The production is low and also the milk powder stocks have exhausted. The private dairies were quick to offer a better price to the farmers to raise their procurement targets,” he said.
