Milk glut lands Milma in fresh trouble

New restrictions make life more difficult for dairy sector

The State’s apex dairy cooperative Kerala Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (Milma) is in considerable trouble trying to sell all the milk it procures in the midst of tightening restrictions to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The glut-like situation is such that the cooperative procures more than three lakh litres of milk in excess of its average sale of around 12.5 lakh litres per day. Milk sales had plummeted because of the pandemic situation, but procurement had gone up significantly in the Malabar and Ernakulam regions, said chairman of the federation P.A. Balan on Sunday. He said the State government directive on Saturday, putting curbs on milk procurement and sale operations as some of the districts went into triple lockdown, would make things more difficult for the dairy sector, which was already reeling under the threat of financial losses and the spread of COVID-19 among dairy sector stakeholders. The total milk procurement by the federation’s three regions is around 16 lakh litres per day. The Malabar region accounts for most of it (around eight lakh litres), the Ernakulam region accounts for around four lakh litres per day, and the Thiruvananthapuram region accounts for about four lakh litres. The Malabar region sales stand at around five lakh litres per day, the Ernakulam region accounts for 2.5 lakh litres and Thiruvananthapuram accounts for around five lakh litres.