Mismatch in milk supply and demand in DK, Udupi: DKMUL

2.5 lakh litres milk produced as against the demand of 3.5 lakh litres

Expressing concern over the lack of production and supply of cattle milk in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, Dakshina Kannada Milk Union Ltd (DKMUL) Executive Director Ravikumar Kakade said that 2.5 lakh litres of milk is produced and supplied in both the districts against the demand of 3.5 lakh litres.

He was speaking at the launching programme of loan scheme for dairy farmers jointly initiated by DKMUL and the lead bank of the district (Syndicate Bank) at DKMUL office in Kulshekhar on Monday. There is an immense need to meet the deficiency of milk production and supply in both the districts, failing which it would cause problem in the following days.

“Plenty of cattle from DK and Udupi are transported to other districts and very less number of cattle are brought to our district from outside. Keeping in mind the demand and supply ratio of milk in the district, the above fact is an alarming issue,” he said.

Informing about the cattle milk supply in the national level, he said 120 million metric tons of milk is currently produced in India. The target is to produce 200 million metric tons by 2020.

India could achieve the production of 120 million metric tons in a span of 30 years, while it has the giant task of producing 80 million metric tons in next eight years, he said.

96 beneficiaries in phase I

Syndicate Bank Deputy General Manager J S Shenoy said that the scheme was the idea of the Lead Bank Chief Manager Hemanth Bhide who had laid the plan an year ago. Out of 1,000 applications received from the enthusiast dairy farmers from the district, the bank has chosen 96 applicants from Mangalore taluk on priority basis in phase I.

Loan has been sanctioned to 64 beneficiaries and the scheme would make a wider coverage in the days to come, he said.

He also asked the farmers to promptly repay the loans. “Several times the banks think twice before lending loans to farmers as they fail to repay the loans. The banks do not mind extending the deadline, but some times the farmers demand for loan waiving or cancel the interest amount. No business can take place that way. The farmers should understand the situation and co-operate with the banks,” Shenoy requested.

NABARD Assistant General Manager Prasad Rao expressed concern over the lukewarm response that Dairy Development Entrepreneurs’ Scheme has received from the dairy farmers in DK and Udupi districts.

Stating the statistics, he said only 17 and 7 applications respectively have been submitted by the enthusiast farmers from DK and Udupi, whereas the scheme has received 544 applications in Hassan district alone.

DKMUL President Raviraj Hegde presided over the programme.

Dairy loan scheme

Under the new dairy farming loan scheme which was launched on Monday, loans will be provided to the enthusiast dairy farmers to buy cattle and open a dairy unit using the loan at subsidised rate. The government will offer five percent discount rate to the loan up to Rs one lakh, for setting up a dairy unit with two cattle. Cheques were distributed to 12 members from Kenjaru milk society and eight from Kuloor Sangha.

Speaking on the occasion, Kenjar Milk Society President Alice D’Costa said that she was happy about the scheme for the members could get the loans without any trouble.

 “All the work pertaining to the loan was completed in 15 minutes, unlike the usual system where we have to spend days to complete the procedures. On behalf of the Sangha I would assure that we would repay the loans promptly,” she said.