The morning cup of brew is likely to become dearer with price of milk likely to increase within the next fortnight in the city.
The Brihattar Gauhati Go-Palak Sanstha is contemplating to increase the price of milk by about Rs 5-6 per litre to meet the rising costs of production.
The Sanstha today said rising cost of inputs like cattle feed and fuel have resulted in a sudden increase in the production cost of milk. As a result, for the past few days, the 5,000-odd dairy farmers here are incurring losses.
Interacting with the media today, Mridupaban Baishya, adviser to the Brihattar Gauhati Go-Palak Sanstha, said, “After the rise in fuel prices, the cost of cattle feed has suddenly gone up. Besides, prices of other inputs and labour cost of rearing the livestock are increasing continuously. It is becoming exceedingly difficult for us to meet the production cost. The livelihoods of innumerable families are directly associated with this business. While the present price of milk is Rs 33 per litre, the production cost has increased to Rs 37.50 per litre in the last few days. Hence, we have no other option but to increase the price by the second week of November. We appeal to the public to understand our position.”
After this hike in prices by the milk producers, retailers are also likely to charge more from the consumers.
There are about 6,000 household dairy farms in and around the city, producing around 1.33 lakh litres of milk daily. Each dairy farmer here has about 20 cows.
“If the retailers have to pay more to the producers, it is obvious that they will also charge accordingly from the consumers. However, we do not know how much they will charge after the hike,” said Baishya.
The organisation also asked the state government to provide more trained veterinary doctors to treat the livestock in these dairy farms. At present, there are only three government veterinary doctors.
“After the outbreak of the foot and mouth disease among cattle this year, the dairy farmers have lost a lot of livestock and many cattle have not recovered sufficiently yet. The milk production has decreased from almost 2 lakh litres per day to about 1.3 lakh litres per day. The state government had even carried out mass vaccination of the cattle, but we do not know why the disease took such an epidemic form here. There are also not sufficient veterinary doctors to attend to the large numbers of cattle here,” said another member of the Sanstha.
The organisation also wants the state government to provide cattle feed according to the rate under the public distribution system to bail out the affected dairy farmers.
“While grains may cost Rs 13-14 per kg in the market, we have to pay Rs 15-17 per kg for cattle feed. If we are provided cattle feed under PDS, we will be able to cut down on the production cost to some extent. The government should also take measures to make bank loans available to dairy farmers at a subsidised rate of interest,” said Baishya.
The Brihattar Gauhati Go-Palak Sanstha is contemplating to increase the price of milk by about Rs 5-6 per litre to meet the rising costs of production.
The Sanstha today said rising cost of inputs like cattle feed and fuel have resulted in a sudden increase in the production cost of milk. As a result, for the past few days, the 5,000-odd dairy farmers here are incurring losses.
Interacting with the media today, Mridupaban Baishya, adviser to the Brihattar Gauhati Go-Palak Sanstha, said, “After the rise in fuel prices, the cost of cattle feed has suddenly gone up. Besides, prices of other inputs and labour cost of rearing the livestock are increasing continuously. It is becoming exceedingly difficult for us to meet the production cost. The livelihoods of innumerable families are directly associated with this business. While the present price of milk is Rs 33 per litre, the production cost has increased to Rs 37.50 per litre in the last few days. Hence, we have no other option but to increase the price by the second week of November. We appeal to the public to understand our position.”
After this hike in prices by the milk producers, retailers are also likely to charge more from the consumers.
There are about 6,000 household dairy farms in and around the city, producing around 1.33 lakh litres of milk daily. Each dairy farmer here has about 20 cows.
“If the retailers have to pay more to the producers, it is obvious that they will also charge accordingly from the consumers. However, we do not know how much they will charge after the hike,” said Baishya.
The organisation also asked the state government to provide more trained veterinary doctors to treat the livestock in these dairy farms. At present, there are only three government veterinary doctors.
“After the outbreak of the foot and mouth disease among cattle this year, the dairy farmers have lost a lot of livestock and many cattle have not recovered sufficiently yet. The milk production has decreased from almost 2 lakh litres per day to about 1.3 lakh litres per day. The state government had even carried out mass vaccination of the cattle, but we do not know why the disease took such an epidemic form here. There are also not sufficient veterinary doctors to attend to the large numbers of cattle here,” said another member of the Sanstha.
The organisation also wants the state government to provide cattle feed according to the rate under the public distribution system to bail out the affected dairy farmers.
“While grains may cost Rs 13-14 per kg in the market, we have to pay Rs 15-17 per kg for cattle feed. If we are provided cattle feed under PDS, we will be able to cut down on the production cost to some extent. The government should also take measures to make bank loans available to dairy farmers at a subsidised rate of interest,” said Baishya.
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