Fodder shortage has hit milk yield,say dairy officials

The production of milk at the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF),which markets Amul brand,has gone down substantially in the last one month.

The production of milk at the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF),which markets Amul brand,has gone down substantially in the last one month. Though GCMMF says the fall in the production is not unusual in summer,cooperative unions believe shortage of fodder has hit the production.

According to sources in GCMMF,the production of milk has gone down from 110 lakh litres to around 91 lakh litres in April this year. Experts believe buffalo milk yield has been hit adversely by shortage of fodder as well as heat.

The production of milk at Panchamrut dairy (Panchmahals),which is one of the members of the federation,has gone down from 5,50,000 litres in December 2008 to 3,40,000 litres in April 2009.

The shortage of fodder has affected milk production. The government should see that Panchmahals district gets enough water so that fodder shortage problem is solved. The fodder in the region has dried up, said a dairy official on a condition of anonymity.

As per an estimate,the shortage of fodder is around 35,000 tonnes in Panchamahals district only.

Baroda dairy is also finding it difficult to sustain milk production level. The dairy produced 4,50,000 litre milk in December 2008. However,it went down to 3,20,000 litres in April 2009. Since production is low and milk is being transported from other places,the milk price has gone up. Since production is down but demand is intact we are now getting milk from Palanpur and Himmatnagar dairies, said one of the officials on a condition of anonymity.

The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has also decided to give more emphasis on growing fodder.

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