There seems to be no recovery in sight for families dependent on cattle farming wholesale feed inflation remains high. The annual rate of feed inflation based on the All India Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was recorded at 25.23 percent in September 2022, higher than in the same month last year.
Feed inflation was 20.57 percent in September last year. In August of this year, it was 25.54 percent, the highest level in the last nine years.
While feed inflation fell slightly in September compared to August, it is still more than double headline WPI inflation.
Headline WPI inflation “ eased” to 10.70 percent in September 2022, compared to 12.41 percent in August 2022. While feed inflation has been rising since December 2021, headline WPI inflation has moderated in recent months. Feed inflation has surged in recent months, hovering over 20 percent for the last five months, May to September 2022.
In the WPI (2011-12), food has a weight of 0.5314 and is counted in the Other Non-Food Items category. It is one of 697 items for which wholesale price data is collected. The rise in feed prices has a direct impact on milk prices.
Earlier this month, The Indian Express reported that feed inflation hit a 9-year high (25.54 percent) in August 2022. He highlighted that the country’s rural households are facing difficulties due to the high price of dried fodder. It was also highlighted that the government’s plans to set up 100 feed FPOs (Farmers Producers Organizations) are on paper to date.
On Oct. 6, the government held a meeting to assess the county’s feed situation, at which states told the center that dry feed prices are significantly higher than last year. The meeting, chaired by Animal Husbandry Minister Rajesh Kumar Singh, was attended by senior central officials and representatives from at least 14 states – including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.
