Dairy farmers in the State are aggrieved over the lack of attention given to key issues concerning them.

In its manifesto, the DMK has promised the farmers that the procurement price will be increased by ₹5 per litre. But the AIADMK, the NTK, and the TVK have not set out their position on the issue in their manifestos, according to M.G. Rajendran, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Milk Producers’ Welfare Association (TNMPWA).

The DMK’s manifesto includes steps to increase the daily milk production from 3 crore litres to 4.5 crore litres. The AIADMK’s document talks about upgrading the livestock park established in Thalaivasal of Salem district, apart from providing two lakh free milch cows and goats annually. The NTK emphasises the preservation of native breeds of cattle.

Articulating their long-standing issues at his residence near Senthamangalam, about 50 km from Salem, Mr. Rajendran says that in the past five years, the procurement price has gone up by ₹6 per litre. Also, the government has permitted District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Unions to provide an additional ₹2 per litre, subject to their financial health. “While a dairy farmer incurs ₹61 per litre towards production cost, a liberal view of the situation reveals that the farmer concerned gets ₹38.75 — a loss of ₹22.25 per litre,” Mr. Rajendran contends, adding that the net income will be marginally less as the Unions deduct administrative cost from their payments to the farmers.

Giving an account of the daily milk production in the State, he says that of the 3 crore litres, around 35 lakh litres are being supplied to the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation (popularly known by the brand name Aavin); 85 lakh litres to private firms for up to ₹45 per litre; and 150 lakh litres to traders at the farm gate at ₹28 per litre, with the remaining quantity being used for personal consumption.

Holding “political interference” in the functioning of Aavin over the past 45 years responsible for the “sorry state of affairs” concerning the dairy sector in the State, Mr. Rajendran wants the new government, after the Assembly poll, to let “genuine dairy farmers” manage the affairs of Aavin. “Tamil Nadu can follow the examples of Amul of Gujarat and Nandini of Karnataka in this regard,” he says.

When asked about the relevance of Aavin in view of the Federation procuring hardly 10% of the milk produced daily, he strongly defends the dairy cooperative system, and feels that but for its presence, the dairy farmers would have been taken for a ride by private firms.