Milk crisis grips state on Diwali eve

NDDB officials said the crisis would worsen during this winter and milksheds in Ahmedabad and Banaskantha districts would plunge into a deep procurement crisis.

Total procurement from milksheds in 12 milk-producing districts of Gujarat declined by 9.64 per cent to 4,505.28 thousand kilograms per day (TKGPD) by the end of this September. Milk procurement by the co-operative dairies in the same period last year was 4985.95 TKGPD.

In this August, the total procurement of the co-operative dairies in the state stood at 4,112.61 TKGPD against the 4,222.57 TKGPD during August last year, a fall of 2.60 per cent.

An NDDB spokesperson said, "Procurement in the milksheds of Ahmedabad district has gone down by 11.44 per cent to 100.98 TKGPD in this August against 114.03 TKGPD in August last year. In Banaskantha, the second-largest milk procuring district, the procurement has dropped by 5.24 per cent during this August. Dairies in Banaskantha district reported a procurement of 614.14 TKGPD in this August against 648.14 TKGPD in August last year."

During September this year, milk procurement in the dairies of Ahmedabad district was 99.16 TKGPD less than in this August and 33.90 per cent less than in September, 2002.

In Banaskantha district, milk procurement in the sheds has come down by 14.29 per cent this September at 688.56 TKGPD against 803.39 TKGPD in last September, recording a 14.29 per cent decline.

In Mehsana, the largest milk procuring district of Gujarat, procurement during September this year is less by 10.42 per cent at 1,048.91 TKGPD against 1,170.9 TKGPD during September last year.

In August, milksheds in Mehsana reported a 4.61 per cent decline in procurement.

Milksheds in Sabarkantha district have not reported any significant decline in procurement in August.

But in September, procurement in the district has come down by 6.23 per cent compared with September last year.

During September last year, total milk procurement in Sabarkantha was 735.9 TKGPD, while during the last month, it has come down to 690.02 TKGPD.

An industry expert said, "Milk procurement across the country this year has shown a steady downfall. Gujarat is also following the trend. The decline in procurement can be mainly attributed to the drought situation and it is clear from the latest statistics that the recent drought in the state has lead to this crisis."

Milk procurement in the worst-affected districts such as Banaskantha and Sabarkantha and in the Saurashtra region has reported a fall in procurement during the last two months.

In Valsad and Surat, procurement was a little higher during these two months as these districts were not drought-affected.

Even in Kaira (Kheda) district where both NDDB and Amul is headquartered, milk procurement has declined by 12.93 per cent in September.