Double blow for dairy farmers in Punjab, milk prices down, input cost up

Sameer Singh

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Tribune News Service

Bathinda, April 15

The dairy industry in the region seems to be heading into choppy waters amid Covid-19 scare. Dairy owners rue that not only have their sales dwindled significantly, but also the rates of milk in the wholesale market have come down drastically. Also, transportation of green fodder, wheat husk (tudi) and cattle feed has also got affected, resulting in increased diet cost of cattle, which the farmers claim that they won’t be able to bear for a long time.

According to the dairy farmers in the Malwa region, on one hand, production cost has increased owing to curfew restrictions and on the other hand, rates in the wholesale market have dropped drastically.

Talking to The Tribune, Atma Singh, president of the Malwa Dairy Farmers’ Association, said, “Earlier, milk was sold for Rs45 per litre and above in the wholesale market as against below Rs30 per litre at present. Owing to the arbitrary stance of wholesale buyers, we have to sell our milk at lowered rates and if we try to bargain with them, they tell us to spill the milk wherever we want. Many farmers have even curtailed the diet of their mulching cattle, but it will end up affecting the health of cattle.”

“Initially, we faced a lot of trouble when supply of cattle feed was cut completely, but later with the administration’s intervention, things improved,” said Singh.

Vikramjit Singh, another dairy farmer at Naam Dev Road in Bathinda, said, “I have more than 80 mulching cattle. At this juncture, I can neither sell them nor would I be able to bear the increased production cost for a longer duration.”

Another dairy farmer said, “After hotels, restaurants and confectionery shops stopped buying milk after curfew, things have turned upside down for me. The price of green fodder, cattle feed, wheat husk etc have seen a jump of 40 to 60 per cent approximately.”