Hundreds of dairy farmers in Odisha’s Umerkote town of Nabarangpur district were forced to pour nearly 20,000 litres of fresh milk onto the streets after the local chilling centre of the Odisha State Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation (OMFED) abruptly suspended milk procurement. According to reports, OMFED halted procurement citing storage and processing constraints at its Jeypore dairy plant, leaving farmers without buyers for their highly perishable produce.
Officials stated that while the region previously supplied around 5,000–6,000 litres of milk per day, procurement volumes had recently surged to nearly 17,000 litres daily, exceeding available storage capacity. Angry farmers staged a protest outside the chilling centre, describing the situation as a collapse of the dairy support system and warning of a district-wide agitation if procurement is not restored immediately.
They demanded urgent intervention from the Odisha government, arguing that dairy farmers depend on daily milk sales for their livelihoods. Milk Procurement Officer Krushna Chandra Sahu confirmed that procurement had been affected due to a lack of storage space and said efforts were underway to resolve the issue. Industry observers noted that the incident highlights the need for expanded milk processing, storage and value-addition infrastructure to support rising milk production and prevent disruptions in farmer incomes.
Source: Dairynews7x7 1 June, 2026 Read full story here