29/04/2020 - Agriculture

KEY POINTS

·         When the entire nation continues to be under lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, our dairy industry has proved to be more resilient than many other sectors in terms of the extent of supply chain disruptions.

·         Disruption seems to have impacted the unorganised private players significantly as they have a higher share of products in their sales portfolio compared to the dairy cooperatives

·         Covid-19 pandemic has thrown up the real possibility for our dairy industry to benefit as large sections of consumers may shift from meat-based to dairy-based protein. Covid-19 has made people more aware of the need to adopt a healthy diet.

·         In the present context, it makes smart business sense for our dairy industry to increase milk procurement for making SMP to meet the growing demand for milk and milk products. Milk procurement, during Covid-19 lockdown, despite market shocks indicates that dairies have started building up commodity stocks to meet lean season requirements.

·         During these difficult times of the dairy farmers, our cows and buffaloes must be taken care of, as any compromise on their feeding and health care would impact reproductive efficiency and productivity.

·         Both governments and dairy cooperatives should provide these inputs and services to the farmers on subsidised rates or deferred payments basis. The country cannot afford to go through another phase of supply disruption resulting in pressures on availability and prices of milk.

·         Covid-19 crisis has witnessed reverse migration of labour force from urban to rural areas leading to social disruptions. On the positive side, we can look at this as an opportunity; these workers can be encouraged and incentivised to join their family agriculture/dairy farms.

Please review.