Punjab dairy farmers hold protest, seek hike in milk procurement prices

Punjab dairy farmers on Saturday held a massive protest in front of a stateowned milk plant in Mohali seeking hike in milk procurement pricesThough the AAP government Saturday announced to increase Rs 20 per kg milk fat the protesting farmers rejected it as inadequate saying they want a hike of at least Rs 100 per kgUnder the banner of Progressive Dairy Farmers Association PDFA farmers from several parts of the state gathered outside the Verma milk plant in MohaliThey blocked one side of the main road leading to Chandigarh in support of their demands Because of the protest commuters faced inconvenienceThe protesters also blocked the entry gates of the Verka milk plant with which the supplies of milk and milk products from the plant could be affectedPDFA president Daljit Singh Sadarpura said the milk prices have not been increased in the past two years while their input prices including feed prices have almost doubledThe price of soybean has increased from Rs 3200 per quintal a year ago to Rs 7200 per quintal Similarly the prices of other items have also gone up which hit the dairy sector hard said SadarpuraHe said several dairy farmers who have been suffering because of inadequate returns have started selling their cattle The Covid19 pandemic also hit the dairy sector hard he saidPointing out that the commercial dairy farming sector provided an impetus to the crop diversification programme in the state Sadarpura urged the Aam Aadmi Party government to save this sectorHe said the state government should raise the procurement price by at least Rs 100 per kg milk fatAt present Punjab State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Limited Milkfed is giving Rs 730 per kg fat to dairy farmers said SadarpuraMeanwhile Milkfed on Saturday announced to increase its milk procurement price being paid to farmers by Rs 20 per kg fat with effect from May 21Since March this year Milkfed has already raised prices by Rs 50 per kg fatPunjab Cooperation Minister Harpal Singh Cheema assured farmers that in future also more concrete steps would be taken for the benefit of milk producers according to an official statementMilkfed has always offered high milk purchase prices to milk producers especially during the pandemic when the private buyers not only stopped buying milk but also drastically reduced the milk procurement prices he saidHe appealed to all the milk producers to strengthen the milk cooperative societies of Verka by giving maximum milk during the summer period so that Verka gets more milk and profits thus earned are utilised to strengthen the milk cooperative societies and improve the socioeconomic position of milk producers by giving them better priceMilkfed MD Kamaldeep Singh Sangha said after agriculture milk production is the main occupation of rural populationMilkfed is already paying higher milk procurement prices to its milk producers as compared to other neighbouring states he claimedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever