Dairy farmers accuse Kerala of not implementing its proposed incentive programme

Following the recommendations by the 15th Five-Year Plan, the government reduced the incentive for milk from ₹4 to ₹3.

It was after repeated protests by the dairy farmers that the minister reinstated the ₹4 incentive programme.

Minister backs farmers

Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Milk Cooperatives J Chinju Rani told the Kerala Assembly that the dairy farmers were toiling even during the pandemic by providing milk to local societies and Milma, the state government’s cooperative milk marketing federation. She said in her speech that these dairy farmers needed help.

“The subsidy that was given to the farmers used to be for three or four months in a year. From this July to March, we will provide a ₹4 subsidy to all dairy farmers in the state. We will be giving it as an incentive. We had allotted ₹13 crore [towards this scheme] in the year 2019-20, but we have now increased it to ₹28.57 crore,” the minister said in the Assembly, to resounding applause from the members of the ruling party.

On 22 July this year, Chinju Rani posted on Facebook regarding this and reiterated that the money would be credited directly to the dairy farmers’ accounts directly from the month of August.

Challenges before dairy farmers

The increasing market rates for cow fodder and the reduced profit on milk have already led many dairy farmers to turn their backs on the profession.

“In the earlier days, people were enthusiastic to begin dairy farming. But many people have quit now, and others like me are on the verge of quitting the business,” said Joymon Vaakkel, a dairy farmer who owns a farm with 12 cows in Pampady in the Kottayam district.

“The price of fodder increases often. At such a juncture, it is high time the government does something to support the traditional farmers who live with this revenue,” he added.

Tie-up with corporate groups 

The farmers also alleged that the government was more concerned about the development of corporate groups, and cited the example of its contract with Muralya Dairy Products, a part of the UAE-based SFC Group.

The government has, as part of this deal, allocated 4.6 acres of land to the company to set up a ₹100-crore mega dairy project and logistics unit in the industrial area of the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation in Angamaly.

“The government is trying to bring big corporates into the state and is giving them all the facilities. They will make milk and other dairy products on a bigger scale, which can adversely impact the dairy industry in Kerala,” said Aby Ipe, the Kottayam district general secretary of the Kerala Karshaka Congress.

Ipe stated that the milk production cost is high in Kerala compared to Tamil Nadu, and it is natural that these corporate groups will source milk from Tamil Nadu dairy farmers and sell their products in Kerala.

He also recounted that when the Union government tried to bring foreign corporates into the Indian dairy market, local workers of the CPI(M) and the Congress had opposed the move.

South First‘s calls to minister Chinju Rani and Principal Secretary Tinku Biswal went unanswered.