The Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (Milma) is procuring one crore litres of milk beyond its routine requirement to meet the extra demand anticipated in the week-long Onam celebrations.Milma Chairman K.S. Mani said the federation would source milk from dairy cooperatives of neighbouring States to meet the additional requirement during the festival season. Since this was the first Onam coming with zero fear of COVID after 2020, Milma expected an all-time record sale of its milk and allied products, he said.“We are expecting a 12% rise in milk and 16% increase in curd sales during Onam days,” he noted. “We have ensured abundant supply of milk, curd, ghee, and other products during the festival.
For several reasons, the demand and supply of milk in Kerala has shown a higher gap in comparison to other States. That is why we have made procurement arrangements well in advance for meeting the extra demand even at a higher price than normal,” Mr. Mani added.“The festival spirit will not be dampened due to scarcity of milk, even if we are sourcing the same at a higher price. It is Milma’s responsibility to ensure that good quality milk is available to people of Kerala without interruption during the Onam season.”The chairman also said Milma had supplied 6.5 lakh units of ghee and payasam mix for the beneficiaries of the government’s free Onam kit for yellow ration card holders.