There is an old saying in villages: “Tempt them and then make them starve.” That is exactly the situation Kerala’s dairy farmers face today. Every time Milma raises the price of milk, it is announced that most of the increased income will go to the farmers. The share is even declared openly. But soon after comes the notice of a price hike for cattle feed, produced by Milma itself and the government-owned Kerala Feeds. Farmers say this is nothing but giving with one hand and taking away with the other. When Dairy Development Minister J Chinchurani recently told the Assembly that milk prices would be raised this December, farmers were left asking the same old question: “Is it only to give and then take away?”

The last time Milma increased milk prices was in December 2022. At present, the ma

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