Sharad Pawar cautions Centre against import of milk products

The letter was written in response to the central government’s plan to import milk products such as butter and ghee and do away with low stocks. The animal husbandry secretary Rajesh Kumar has recently said that the country’s milk product has remained stagnant in the last fiscal year owing to lumpy skin disease

Mumbai: NCP chief and former agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday opposed any government plan to import milk products such as butter and ghee, contending that it would impede the revival of the dairy sector, which is still coming out of the scarring effects of Covid-19 pandemic.

“Any decision by the Centre in this regard will be totally unacceptable because the import of these products will directly affect the income of the domestic milk producers,” Pawar said, adding, “The dairy farmers have recently come out of the unprecedented Covid-19 crisis. (ANI)

He has written a letter to the union minister for animal husbandry and dairy Parshottam Rupala explaining his concerns on Thursday.

The letter was written in response to the central government’s plan to import milk products such as butter and ghee and do away with low stocks. The animal husbandry secretary Rajesh Kumar has recently said that the country’s milk product has remained stagnant in the last fiscal year owing to lumpy skin disease. This has resulted in bringing down the stock of milk products such as butter and ghee and they are going to intervene to import daily products if required.

“Any decision by the Centre in this regard will be totally unacceptable because the import of these products will directly affect the income of the domestic milk producers,” Pawar said, adding, “The dairy farmers have recently come out of the unprecedented Covid-19 crisis and such decision will severely impede the revival process of the dairy sector.”

“My concern may please be heeded. I shall be happy if the matter is looked into and the Ministry deters itself from taking any decision to import the milk products,” he stated in the letter to the union minister.

Ajit Nawale, joint secretary, Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Parishad (ABKS) too opposed any such move saying that the farmers community will be drowned if dairy products are imported. “The farmers have just started recovering from the damage caused by the pandemic. The decision will again push them towards the miserable condition they were in,” Nawale said.

The import is not a solution to the problem. The agrarian community is capable enough to fulfil the market demand provided that they are encouraged by reducing prices of animal feed and other expenses, he pointed out.