Karnataka MLA Seeks ₹10 Hike in Milk Procurement Price Amid Drought
Congress MLA K.Y. Nanje Gowda has urged Karnataka to raise KMF milk procurement prices by ₹10 a litre, citing drought and high feed costs.
A Congress legislator who heads the Kolar-Chickballapur Milk Union Limited (KOMUL) has urged the Karnataka government to raise the procurement price paid by the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) by ₹10 a litre, arguing that drought-hit dairy farmers cannot survive on current rates.
Speaking during an Assembly debate on drought, K.Y. Nanje Gowda warned that the KMF brand and the State's milk cooperative network would suffer if procurement prices were not revised upward.
He said the cost of producing milk had climbed steeply, with cattle feed rising from ₹720 to ₹1,250 per 50-kg bag. The drought, he added, had made it nearly impossible for farmers to obtain green or dry fodder, leaving producers with little margin at prevailing prices.
Mr. Gowda pointed out that Karnataka's procurement and retail prices for milk are lower than in several other States. Procurement stands at ₹35 a litre in Karnataka, against ₹41.5 in Andhra Pradesh, ₹41.8 in Keralam and ₹41 in Maharashtra, he said, noting that the national average is about ₹41.
On the retail side, KMF sells milk at ₹46 a litre in Karnataka, compared with ₹67 in Andhra Pradesh, ₹52 in Keralam, ₹59 in Maharashtra and ₹61 in Delhi, he said.
Rejecting concerns that a procurement hike would burden consumers, he argued that affordable, quality milk would not be available unless farmers' interests were protected. He also alleged that milk rejected by KMF procurement units for quality reasons was being picked up by private companies and sold above KMF's retail price.
Noting that educated youth were returning to villages to take up dairying, he appealed to the government to keep them in the sector by raising procurement prices, and sought a special drought package for Kolar district given its severe exposure to dry conditions.