The Odisha Milk Farmers’ Association (OMFA) condemned the decision of the Omfed Managing Board to slash the price of milk by Rs1 per litre. The decision was taken on June 3. The Omfed’s decision is anti-farmers, said OMFA president Rabi Behera. The OMFA members sought the intervention of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in this regard.
Notably, milk farmers across the State are protesting the Omfed’s decision to slash milk procurement by 31 per cent. A delegation of the OMFA had also met Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy and urged upon him to check distress sale of milk. They expressed concern that due to the ongoing crisis in the milk procurement sector, about 2. 77 lakh milk farmer families’ livelihood is at stake. The Minister also promised at a meet to take steps in this regard. But the Omfed’s decision, which was declared on June 3, is a burden on milk farmers, said Behera.