Pune: Maharashtra’s drought is expected to push up retail milk prices in the coming months as shrinking fodder availability and a hot Oct begin to weigh on milk production and raise procurement costs for dairies.“The milk procurement rates paid to the farmers have already gone up from around Rs35 to Rs42 per litre in the past two to three months,” Prakash Kutwal, secretary of the Maharashtra Rajya Dudh Vyavsayik Sanghatana, said.Kutwal said the impact of deficient rainfall on fodder availability was only beginning and could become more pronounced over the next one to two months. “Fodder stocks in drought-hit districts are also coming under pressure. We had increased the selling rate by only Rs2 earlier. In the coming days, we may also have to increase the selling rate further,” Kutwal said.The increase in milk procurement prices is also being driven by tighter genuine-milk supplies following the FDA’s crackdown on adulteration, which has reduced the quantity of adulterated milk entering the market.Kutwal said the poor monsoon was beginning to affect fodder and milk availability. “If rainfall reduces, the grass available with us does not finish the very next day. Its impact happens gradually. That impact has now started and in the next one to two months it will become more pronounced,” he said.He added that procurement rates had risen by Rs7/litre in the past two to three months, with the rate increasing from Rs41 to Rs42 on Oct 1. “The combination of higher fodder costs, lower milk availability and tighter supply following the adulteration crackdown could put further pressure on retail milk prices if procurement rates continue to rise,” Kutwal said.Shripad Chitale, senior partner at Chitale Group, said milk procurement prices were continuing to rise and that this could eventually push up retail prices. “Procurement prices are continuously increasing. So, there are chances that retail prices will also increase. Milk production has also fallen,” Chitale said.Nandu Rokade, a dairy farmer, said deficient rainfall had affected availability of both green and dry fodder, resulting in lower milk production. “Nutritious fodder is not available, so milk production has reduced. There is also a shortage of dry fodder,” he said.Rokade said he has around 15-20 cows and his milk output during the same period last year was around 250 litres a day, as against current production of 180 liters. “Soybean and other raw materials are also being produced in lower quantities, so feed prices are increasing every day. They have gone up by at least 30% compared with earlier,” he said.Rokade said farmers were currently receiving Rs42 per litre for their milk, but felt the rate did not adequately cover their production costs. “The Rs42 is low compared with the cost of production. We should be getting a rate of Rs 50 per litre,” he said.
