December 20, 2013

Milk production in the state of Kerala, India was hit by the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in cattle where the production has declined by 50,000 litres/day in the past few days.

According to sources with the Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (MILMA). The average production of MILMA was 9 50,000 litres/ day.

Wayanad Dairy Development Officer Jose Emmanuel said that due to the outbreak of the disease, it failed to achieve the expected target of 1.80 lakh (100,000) litres this year.

Going by the milk production data of Wayanad district, there has been an increase in production by 20,000 litres this year compared to the previous year. The increase in production was expected due to factors such as new schemes, mechanised farms, and purchase of more productive cattle.

However, he also opined that Wayanad may be the least affected district in the state.  According to data available with the Chief Veterinary office in Kozhikode, the disease has been reported from 54 places in Kozhikode, of which 16 cases were reported from within the Corporation limit.