(a) whether the Government is aware of the immense damage caused to the dairy producers of the State of Kerala by the collapse of demand for dairy products due to the Covid-19 pandemic;
(b) whether the Government intends to take any specific measures to alleviate the suffering of dairy producers of the State of Kerala and ensure that they are able to survive this uniquely challenging economic period;
(c) if so, the details thereof; and
(d) if not, the reasons therefor?
ANSWER
MINISTER FOR FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING
(SHRI PARSHOTTAM RUPALA)
(a) As per the information received from Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF), milk business in Kerala did not come to stand still due to Covid-19 pandemic. Average sale of milk by KCMMF in May 2019, May 2020 and May 2021 were 13.97 Lakh Liter per Day (LLPD), 12.94 LLPD and 12.78 LLPD respectively. The procurement and distribution was done as usual for milk being an essential commodity.
(b) & (c) As per the information received from KCMMF, the surplus milk from Kerala is being converted to Milk powder at Milk Powder plants of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. Further, this department collected information on milk procurement, price, sale and stocks on daily and weekly basis from cooperatives to analyse the dairy business situation in the country.
As a part of Atmanirbhar Bharat package, this Department had launched “Campaign for Kisan Credit Cards (KCC)” for providing working capital loan to dairy farmers of Milk Cooperatives and Milk Producer Companies” from June 2020 to December 2020. As on 02.07.2021, 119218 number of KCC forms have been submitted by Milk Union to Bank Branch and 69,954 number of KCC applications from Kerala were sanctioned. The following schemes were introduced/ modified during COVID-19 to mitigate its effect on dairy farmers are given below:
i. Supporting Dairy Cooperative and Farmer Producer Organizations (SDCFPO) engaged in dairy activities (interest subvention on working capital component)
ii. As a part of Aatmanirbhar Bharat package:
i. Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF)
ii. Provision of KCC to Animal Husbandry
iii. Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF)
Under DIDF, a solar electricity generation plant of 2 Mega Watts capacity and a dairy plant have been approved with an outlay of Rs. 15.25 Crore in June 2021.
(d) Does not arise in view of reply to (b) & (c) above.
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