Safe Milk Labs

From Food inflation to Food inclusion-Devinder Sharma

April 11, 2024
10:54 am
GMT+5:30
Updated 7 months ago

In Norway, dairy farmers receive just 21.9 per cent of the prevailing supermarket price of milk. Against 25.50 Kroner that consumers shell out for milk in supermarkets, dairy farmers get only 5.62 Kroners. In fact, the chart below presents a very clear picture of what ails agriculture across the globe. Farmers share in the end consumer price is continuously falling and they are in reality being squeezed out of business by the supermarkets.

And yet, the consumers react when farmers demand a Minimum Support Price (MSP) or a floor price below which no trading should take place not realising that such a move will be beneficial for both consumers as well as farmers. They get browbeaten by mainline economists who shout that markets will get distorted if farmers get a higher price. You can see which market gets distorted and whose interests these economists are trying to protect.

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Comments by Kuldeep Sharma —

It is a great insight sir . We are lucky that in India farmers get 70-80 pc of the market value . Thanks to the cooperative model which is being followed by private sector also . However the problem is lower mrp in Indian context while the farmer in Norway is getting around rs 35-40 which our farmer is also getting the market price is around rs 175-200 per kg in norway while in India it is around 60-70 per kgs .

That reminds me of your recent article in which you mentioned about responsibility of consumers for making dairy and agriculture sustainable .

Read the article –

Time for consumers to stand in solidarity with dairy farmers-Devinder Sharma

Sooner or later the consumers will have to think farmer inclusion in their demand structure . As in most of other products which are processed , the consumer never complaints but the moment there is a price increase in milk and other agriculture produce .. it is treated as food inflation . I think the right way would be to shift from food inflation to food inclusion for our farmers to get justice which is overused since independence . Thanks for raising the relevant issues related to Indian farming sir and enlightening all of us .