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The State government has formed a committee under Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to discuss Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for milk. Farmers’ organisations have been demanding FRP for milk on the lines of sugarcane.
The demand for a dairy FRP is gaining momentum in Maharashtra, especially after Covid-19 ensued lockdowns. Milk farmers have repeatedly alleged that dairies are paying less price. But the State government is unable to intervene in the matter as majority of the dairy sector is controlled by private players and the cooperatives reported losses during the pandemic.
The government has no control over the price formula decided by the private and co-operative dairies. The selling price of milk comprises the milk procurement price paid to the farmers (including the cost of production) and the cost of processing and marketing.
According to the Union government, about 74 per cent of the sale price of milk is transferred to the farmers as procurement price. But farmers say that many dairies don’t follow this formula.
The Committee under Ajit Pawar will speak to stakeholders including farmers and present the report to explain if FRP to milk is possible. The sugarcane FRP is fixed by the government on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). All sugar mills have to pay the FRP to sugarcane farmers. Dairy farmers say that they would get a fair price only if FRP is made mandatory like sugarcane.
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