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How Covid-19 moved India from milk shortage to glut in a few months

Unless quick steps are taken to clear surplus milk and milk product stocks in the country, the coming flush season will spell bad news for milk farmers, especially small and marginal ones

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Coronavirus | Outbreak of COVID-19 | COVID-19

Sanjeeb Mukherjee  |  New Delhi 

The Covid-19-induced lockdown came at a very wrong time for over 70 million milk farmers across India, as it did for most other sectors. After straight years of subdued prices, milk procurement rates had started looking up during the 2019-20 flush season, providing much-needed cash to farmers.

But just as farmers were getting better returns from milk, the Covid-19 lockdown was announced at the end of March. The restrictions led to a sharp slump in demand from bulk consumers such as hotels, restaurants, dhabas and roadside tea kiosks, as they were forced to shut ...
First Published: Wed, August 05 2020. 14:58 IST