Following a 55% drop in sales in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Malabar Regional Milk Producers Union (MRMPU) has decided to consider some temporary regulations in the collection of milk from various dairy cooperative societies in northern Kerala districts.
On Tuesday, the union affiliated to the Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (Milma) will not collect milk from 1,100 dairy cooperative societies in the Malabar region to temporarily manage the situation. The MRMPU management said the existing stock was enough to meet the demand for the next three days and continuation of collection would not be profitable.
K.S. Mani, chairman, MRMPU, said it would only be a temporary arrangement and was not meant to trouble dairy farmers.
“We will check the possibility of increasing the milk powder production in the days to come with the support of processing plants outside the State. However, it will be successful only with the cooperation of inter-State truck operators and factories,” he told The Hindu.
Mr. Mani said the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in districts such as Kasaragod and Kannur had turned out to be a big challenge to continuing the sales.
