PETA controversy unnecessary; troubles aggravate for milk farmers and dairy industry during the second wave of Covid-19: RS Sodhi, exclusive video interview

RS Sodhi, the Managing Director (MD) of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF) (Amul), had a long conversation with RuralVoice in a video interview. He said in the interview that the second wave of Covid-19 had had an adverse impact on milk farmers. He also said that the reduction in demand was leading to a continuous increase in the stock with the dairy industry. And this has led to increased costs for the companies. Milk prices have gone down in several parts of the country, but a cooperative organisation like Amul, which purchases milk from more than four million farmers in the country, is still paying the farmers at a high price. Sodhi shared his thoughts with RuralVoice on a host of issues, including that of the situation of the dairy industry and the farmers in these unfavourable times. He also spoke about his standpoint on the controversy raised by PETA.

Besides being the MD of Amul, Sodhi counts among the biggest and most experienced names in the dairy industry of the country. During the last financial year 2020-21, the turnover of GCMMF was Rs 39,250 crore while that of the Amul brand was Rs 53,000 crore. In the rural dialogue with RuralVoice, Sodhi says that the farmers of Gujarat get Rs 150 crore daily from milk sales. That is, this amount goes in the form of the income of the villages of Gujarat every day. During the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Amul not only gave the farmers the right price but also increased its procurement by 15 per cent. This year again, despite the second wave of the pandemic, Amul has increased its procurement by another 13 per cent. This year, however, more milk is coming for sale despite its production not going up much. On the other hand, the demand for milk products has gone down. If conditions do not improve soon, prices may go down for the milk farmers. This may also have an impact on milk production because the production cost of the farmers is continuously going up. Given this situation, there may be an increase in prices for milk consumers in the next lean season. Watch the full interview and you will come to know about what lies in store for the milk farmers, the dairy industry and the consumers.