Rising costs drive farmers of Wayanad out of dairy; milk production, membership plummet
Dairy farming crisis is deepening in Wayanad as rising costs of cattle feed and stagnant milk procurement prices force farmers to abandon cattle rearing.
Dairy farming crisis is deepening in Wayanad as rising costs of cattle feed and stagnant milk procurement prices force farmers to abandon cattle rearing.
Dairy farming crisis is deepening in Wayanad as rising costs of cattle feed and stagnant milk procurement prices force farmers to abandon cattle rearing.
Mananthavady: The dairy sector in Wayanad too is plunging into a major crisis. With expenses rising almost daily, farmers are abandoning cattle rearing and turning to other sources of income.
Although the price of cattle feed has been hiked several times, the procurement price of milk has not increased proportionately, leaving dairy farmers in severe distress. Once a key source of income for the district, the sector is now shrinking rapidly. Farmers are quitting every day, and no new entrants are coming forward. Many dairy cooperatives are struggling to survive, though earlier crores of rupees used to flow to farmers through the 54 cooperatives in the district.
There has been a sharp fall in the number of dairy farmers in Wayanad compared to a decade ago.
Milk procurement in Wayanad (district office statistics):
2021–22: 2,64,028 litres
2022–23: 2,58,668 litres
2023–24: 2,51,684 litres
2024–25: 2,44,541 litres
Number of farmers halved
The drop in members at a single dairy cooperative in Mananthavady block reflects the depth of the crisis. Membership fell from 250 in 2021–22 to 218 in 2022–23, 186 in 2023–24, 177 in 2024–25 and finally 166 in 2025–26.
The fall in milk production has been limited to around 10%, thanks to the entry of a few large dairy farms. But small-scale farmers have suffered far more, with their output plunging by 30%. Several other cooperatives are reportedly in an even worse condition.
Milk societies demand hike in procurement price
District Primary Milk Societies have demanded an immediate increase in the milk procurement price to save the sector from collapse. They have also sought a revision of society margins to reflect current costs.
Milk production has already dropped by 25–30%, while the number of farmers has fallen by nearly 40%. Prices of essential items have doubled or even tripled, cattle feed costs have risen by around 40%, yet milk prices remain stagnant.
Leaders further alleged that projects like MSDP bring little benefit to districts. They urged that such schemes be scrapped and the funds instead disbursed directly to farmers as incentives.
District president B P Benny, general secretary V L Saji, and members A P Kuriakose, Jiji Paul, Paulose Maliyekkal, M T John, Biju Andrews, P J Saji and K B Mathew spoke at the meeting.