NCP (SP) seeks higher milk procurement rates in drought-hit Satara as fodder, feed costs rise
The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) has asked the Satara administration to raise milk procurement rates and ensure drought relief reaches farmers directly.
Lack of rain in Satara district has upset the entire economics of farming. The milk business, the secondary occupation of farmers, has also fallen into financial distress. The costs of fodder, cattle feed, medicines, labour and keeping animals continue to rise, but earnings from selling milk have not kept pace.
Farmers were already in difficulty because of the drought. They now face the big challenge of meeting the cost of keeping their animals. In view of this, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) has demanded that milk procurement rates be raised to give immediate relief to milk producers. The party also said the concessions announced for drought-affected people should reach farmers directly.
Water and fodder shortages are being felt in many parts of Satara district. Farming is not bringing in the expected income, so many farmers had been looking to animal husbandry as a source of support. But the lack of enough fodder for animals, rising cattle feed prices and treatment costs have upset the arithmetic of the milk business too. The occupation that once supported farming now appears to be turning into a financial burden for farmers.
Rising cattle feed prices, scarcity of fodder, medicines and treatment, and labour costs are pushing up the cost of producing a litre of milk. On the other hand, the procurement rate for milk is not adequate. This raises the question of how much a milk producer is actually left with. The demand has therefore been made that procurement rates for producers be raised immediately to give them financial relief.
A memorandum was submitted to the Collector under the leadership of the party's district president, Balasaheb Patil. The party said plainly that the concessions and aid announced by the government after the drought declaration should not remain only on paper. They must reach the edge of the farmers' fields directly.
The memorandum demanded that fodder, water, financial aid and other drought relief measures be delivered immediately to eligible beneficiaries. It also expressed concern that if the administration does not take concrete steps before the drought intensifies, animal husbandry as well as farming could be seriously affected.
