Have you ever wondered how the supply of vegetables and milk has remained unaffected despite Covid 19 induced restrictions and lockdowns imposed by several states? Operation of rail milk tankers run by Amul has continued unabated.
Every day, the tankers carrying milk starts from Anand in Gujarat and other factories located outside the state to ensure that supply is not hampered reaching lakhs of homes all across the country. Milk is loaded at a temperature of 2 degrees at the rail tankers. Typically, the tankers take about 12-15 hours to reach the destinations.
For instance, if you are in Delhi, your milk is either sourced from Rajasthan or Haryana besides Gujarat. Supplies from Gujarat takes around 12 hours to reach the capital. Once the tanker reaches Delhi, milk is sent to various plants for packaging after which it reaches your doorstep.
The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation or GCMMF, which the parent organisation of Amul, has mobilised all its 84 plants to ensure that supply of milk remains normal, RS Sodhi told India Narrative. Lives and livelihoods of about 36 lakh dairy farmers are dependent on Amul’s production and supply.
“We have ensured that there is no disruption of supply,” Sodhi said. “The supply chain of milk is dependent on the functioning of innumerable dairy farmers and distributors and other stakeholders. While in the first phase of lockdown last year, the rural sector was not impacted by Covid 19 pandemic, this time, the scenario is different and many distributors in the smaller towns have been infected which has made our distribution a little more challenging,” Sodhi added.
Sodhi said that incentives to distributors and other labour forces besides an aggressive vaccination drive for employees across the country are among the initiatives undertaken by the milk producer.
According to Invest India — the nodal body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, facilitating fresh investment, the country’s dairy industry has grown at 12 per cent during last five years, with value-added products driving market growth. India is the largest producer of milk globally producing over 188 million MT production in 2019-20.
It is the largest single agricultural commodity with 4 per cent share in the overall economy.
“When it comes to agricultural value chains that can simultaneously deliver on multiple development goals, few agri-products can rival dairy, which improves farmer livelihoods, creates jobs, supports agricultural industrialization and commercialization, and enhances nutrition for the masses,” Invest India said.
