Lockdown leads to dip in milk consumption in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Milk consumption in Greater Hyderabad has come down by 20% in the lockdown. Thanks to the short window of only four hours, as against 30 lakh litres per day average consumption in the city, only 24 lakh litres of milk is consumed now. Interestingly, there has been no significant dip in milk sales or its consumption in the districts.
Telangana State Dairy Development Cooperative Federation managing director G Srinivas Rao confirmed to STOI that there is a dip in milk consumption. “As the time to sell the milk and other commodities is only four hours and also the shelf life of milk being less, retailers are not taking chances. They are placing orders for a lesser number of milk packets compared to what they used to take before the lockdown,” he said.
The milk business had picked up and was stabilising after the first round of coronavirus but the second wave of the pandemic has badly hit the sector.
The dairy managements said the main reason for consumption of milk going down in Greater Hyderabad was due to the short window period. In addition, hotels, restaurants, tea stalls, sweet shops and other institutions which consume huge quantities of milk are remaining closed, except for four hours, due to the lockdown, they explained. “The dairy managements have informed the agriculture secretary that while there is a dip in milk consumption by 20%, sales of milk byproducts are down by 40%. They are now seeking permission for at least milk parlours to be allowed to remain open throughout the day,” said an official.
Private and cooperative dairies put together sell 68 lakh litres of milk every day in Telangana. However, there is no loss to the milk farmers despite the consumption going down.
The cooperative and private dairies are still procuring milk from farmers in Telangana. It is the milk farmers, cooperative and private dairies of neighbouring states like AP, Karnataka and Maharashtra which have been affected. Telangana is not self-reliant in milk production. Procurement of milk from other states has been reduced temporarily.