8 November 2007

1 minute read

Asia

Last year’s drought in Australia and New Zealand seems to have brought good luck for farmers involved in dairy business here as deficit has increased the demand of powder milk in international market. Moreover, private players engaged in making powder milk too have given a major boost to the income of otherwise petty farmers.

"I have only two buffaloes and by selling just 15 litres of milk, I make Rs 400 everyday, something which was unthinkable till a year back," said 35-year-old Ramesh Kumar, grinning from ear to ear. Tracing the phenomenal jump in the milk rates, Ramesh added, "Cost of milk has gone up from Rs 13 per litre to Rs 25 per litre within a year."

Over 700 families of Gorakhpur village are now engaged in small-scale milk production with the number of miltch cattle varying from two to 20 per family. "Earlier, there was only one government-run milk collection centre. Now, private firms too have opened their milk collection centres," said Dalbir Singh, a farmer. "Due to tough competition we get good rates and there is transparency in measurement due to computerisation," added Ajmer Singh.

Source: Times of India