The Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Ltd., Aavin, has set a record in milk procurement. On Monday, farmers across the State brought in 35.01 lakh litres of milk to their respective milk producers cooperative society collection centres.
This is an increase of 1.84 lakh litres a day compared to the same period last year.
The milk major has been working on increasing sales and at the same time ensuring timely payment to farmers, which is the main reason for the rise.
Aavin Managing Director C. Kamaraj said, “In most places, payment to farmers is done within a week. We have been working towards increasing sale of milk and milk-based products and the effort would be to sustain this tempo. We had been trending upwards of 34.60 lakh litres a day and on Monday touched the all-time high.”
The cooperative federation, the third largest in the country in terms of procurement, sells 12.40 lakh litres of milk daily in Chennai city and 10.40 lakh litres in the rest of the districts in the State. It pays around ₹300 crore every month to 4.60 lakh pouring farmers, who are members of cooperative societies.
“Another reason for the upward trend in milk procurement is because of the feed that is supplied to farmers. This too has seen a quantum leap. Our cattle feed plant at Erode is operating to full capacity and producing around 4,300 tonnes a month. We also extend subsidy for feed,” Mr. Kamaraj added.
Along with an increase in sale of milk, Aavin has also improved the movement of milk-based products.