Milk procurement rises in Tiruchi region after wet spell

Thanks to the improvement in availability of green fodder and drinking water to cattle, milk procurement has gone up in Tiruchi region.

In recent months — particularly between March and July — the Tiruchi District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union had struggled to maintain normal procurement of milk from cattle growers due to shortage of fodder and acute scarcity of drinking water for cattle. The milk procurement decreased by about 75,000 litre to 1 lakh litre per day in Tiruchi, Perambalur, Ariyalur and Karur districts, forcing the State-owned Aavin to curtail the supply of milk to Chennai and milk powder production units in the State.

However, the recent wet spell has raised the hopes of cattle growers. Several tanks, lakes and ponds, which were completely dried up until recently, have water at least to meet the drinking water requirements of cattle. Moreover, there has been enormous growth of green grass in vacant fields everywhere, facilitating the cattle growers to provide sufficient fodder to milch animals.

On an average, the union procures about 4 lakh litres of milk from the farmers of Tiruchi, Perambalur, Ariyalur and Karur. Due to scarcity of natural fodder and drinking water, the procurement had come down to about 3 lakh litres in March. It has gone up to 4.70 lakh litres now. It hovered around 4.45 lakh litres a week ago.

“There has been a gradual increase in milk procurement since July. It has gone by about 25,000 litres per day than the last week. It is set to increase further in the coming weeks,” said S. Narayanan, Assistant General Manager, (Production), Aavin, Tiruchi.

He added that the climate was conducive to milk production. Moreover, the recent spells of rain had reduced the fodder scarcity at least temporarily.

Out of 4.75 lakh litres, 1.21 lakh litre was sold in Tiruchi, Karur, Ariyalur and Perambalur, and about 2.10 lakh litre sent to Chennai. The remaining 1.40 lakh litre was sent to milk powder production units in the State, Mr. Narayanan added.

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/milk-procurement-rises-in-tiruchi-region-after-wet-spell/article19585656.ece