No respite appears in sight for families dependent on cattle rearing as wholesale fodder inflation continues to remain high. The annual rate of fodder inflation based on the All India Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was recorded at 25.23 per cent in September 2022, which is higher than the figure recorded in the same month of the last year. The fodder inflation was 20.57 per cent in September, last year. In August, this year, it stood at 25.54 per cent, which was the highest in the past nine years. While fodder inflation has seen a slight dip in September as compared to August, it is still more than double the overall WPI inflation. The overall WPI inflation has “eased” to 10.70 per cent in September 2022 as compared to 12.41 per cent in August 2022. While the fodder inflation has been rising since December 2021, the overall WPI inflation has softened in recent months. The fodder inflation has seen a sharp spike in recent months and has been hovering over 20 per cent during the last five months, May-September, 2022. In the WPI (2011-12), fodder has a weight of 0.5314 and is counted in the ‘Other Non-Food Articles’ category. It is one of the 697 items for which wholesale price data is collected. The fodder price rise has a direct impact on the milk prices. Earlier this month, The Indian Express reported that the fodder inflation has reached at 9-year’s high level (25.54 per cent) in August 2022. It highlighted that rural households in the country are facing hardships due high prices of dry fodder. It also highlighted that the government’s plans to create 100 fodder FPOs (Farmers Producers Organizations) remain on papers till date. On October 6, the government held a meeting to assess the fodder situation in the county, in which states informed the Centre that prices of dry fodder are significantly higher than last year. The meeting, chaired by Animal Husbandry Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, was attended by senior central officials and representatives of at least 14 states – including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.
