Hard times are in store for Keralites yearning for milk with the state facing acute shortage of the commodity as domestic supplies continue to fall far short of the demand.
The widening supply-demand gap has forced major supply chains, including the single largest co-operative vendor Milma, to source large quantities at a high price from outside the state to satisfy customers.
The state’s total milk production was estimated to be around 21 lakh tonnes against a demand of 24.53 lakh tonnes a year, according to the Economic Review of the State Planning Board.
The output had steadily been on the decline from 27.18 lakh tonnes in 2001-02 to 21.18 lakh by 2006-07.
The fast-shrinking rice cultivation base with its fallout on fodder availability, rural population keeping away from milch cow rearing and absence of big, high-tech dairies are said to be the reasons for the sharp fall in milk production.
The domestic availability of Milma stood at about 6.20 lakh litres a day against its current demand of 10.50 lakh tonnes, forcing it to source the deficit from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and even Maharashtra, its Chairman P T Gopala Kurup told reporters.
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