Milk price hike: Coffee, tea to get hotter with 5% hike in Mysore hotels

With increase in cost of cattle rearing, hike was inevitable: MyMUL MD

Mysuru: Besides pinching the purse of the people, especially middle class and poor families, the milk price hike by Rs 4 per litre is likely to make coffee and tea hotter with a 5 per cent hike in hotels in Mysuru by next month.

While MYMUL (Mysore Milk Union) MD K N Suresh Nayak said that even as cattle rearing cost has increased, the entire amount hiked would be given to farmers. Cattle farmer H N Nanjappa felt that if milk unions keep up the word to give the entire amount to them that would be helpful, considering the increase in the cost of cattle feeds and labour.

Suresh Nayak informed that cattle rearers produce 2,60,000 litres of milk per day in the district. At present out of Rs 40 per litre milk, farmers are getting Rs 32.10 apart from the Rs 5 subsidy.

According to the Deputy Director of Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, Mysuru, Dr Nagaraju said there are 4,92,598 cows in Mysuru district.

He said, "Now with continuous regular vaccinations, diseases among cattle are under control. But a farmer has to spend 12 hours per day to take care of a cow apart from his agricultural activities. So considering the cost of milk production and labour cost, the cost of milk can be further increased like that of other states after scientific calculation," Dr Nagaraju said.

H N Nanjappa, a cattle farmer from the Hadinaaru village of Nanjangud taluk and co-ordinator of the Suttur cattle fair, explained, "The cost of feed for cows has gone up by about 30 per cent in the past year. A farmer has to spend about Rs 15,000 on a dedicated worker who takes care of two cattle apart from over Rs 5,000 for feed per month. If he is getting over 10 litre milk per cow per day, for two cows, he will get around Rs 22,000 including subsidy. So farmers are not getting good profit. Hence KMF must give Rs 4 per litre hike to farmers. They should stop altering money given when milk production goes up."

Dr Nagaraju said the increase in the cost of feed is due to the increase in the cost of its ingredients, including maize. It will also benefit a farmer, he said.

When asked if it would not be a burden for customers, Suresh Nayak said that in Mysuru alone, people are purchasing about 60,000 to 70,000 litres of milk from private companies like Dodla and Jercy by paying Rs 50 to 60 per litre for toned milk.

When asked if the MyMUL can't increase the amount given to farmers without putting any burden on people, Dr Nagaraju said, "While they already give Rs 37 per litre, the remaining amount is required for procurement, operational and maintenance cost of dairy," he said.

Mysore Hotel Owners' Association President C Narayangowda said, "Even as there are about 800 hotels in Mysuru, 99 per cent of them depend on Nandini milk as it is known for its taste and purity. They increased Rs 2 per litre milk in June. After June, the cost of coffee powder has been increased three times and tea leaves once. Now that the milk price hike apart from the hike in electricity tariffs, it is inevitable to increase the cost of coffee and tea for hoteliers, especially in rented buildings. Since hoteliers are already affected by footpath food vendors, we cannot hike much as we may lose customers. So a 5 per cent hike in coffee tea prices is minimal and inevitable," he said.

Prabha, a homemaker, said, "Milk and curd are basic essential commodities. Though the electricity fare hike wouldn't affect middle-class and poor families much due to the Gruha Jyothi scheme, the hike in milk price will definitely be a burden as we live with a minimal budget. Chief Minister claims that to help people who are suffering from price rise of various commodities like dal, oil, LPG over the past few years, they came up with guarantee schemes. Now we may have to invest part of the money we get in the Gruha Lakshmi scheme for milk and curd."