Mandya farmers protest after procurement price of milk is slashed by Rs 2

Mandya: Uniting under the aegis of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), farmers blocked the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway near Maddur on Thursday protesting the decline in the procurement price of milk in the taluk. The protesters, converging at Koppa Circle, raised slogans against the Mandya District Coopeartive Milk Producers’ Societies Union (MANMUL) after the cooperative slashed the price at which milk was purchased from farmers from Rs 22.8 to Rs 20.8. “This steep reduction has affected thousands of farmers relying on income from milk,” the protesters said.
Pointing to the challenges confronting them, the farmers said that the price had been reduced against a backdrop of rising prices for fodder needed to feed cattle. The farmers dismissed claims made by the MANMUL administration of reeling under losses as a consequence of milk power manufactured by the cooperative not fetching a good price in the market.

“How is it possible that MANMUL is suffering losses, while other milk unions are registering profits? It is not volatility in the market that is responsible for its losses but poor administration, and corruption prevailing in the board. This is pushing MANMUL to the brink of closure,” said the protesters.

However, the protest resulted in traffic on the busy highway coming to a standstill for nearly an hour. The farmers have warned of launching an indefinite rasta-roko protest would be held along all highways if MANMUL failed to roll back the reduction in procurement price for milk.