Kavre farmers dump milk in protest

BANEPA, Aug 25:

Farmers of Kavre spilled milk at Chardobato of Banepa on Monday to protest 'indirect milk holiday' imposed by state-owned Dairy Development Corporation (DDC).

They said DDC did not purchase milk from farmers on Sunday and Monday, citing the nationwide strike enforced by different indigenous groups. Private dairies, however, collected milk from farmers on both the days, they said.

Deepak Prasad Paudel, advisor of Central Milk Producers Cooperatives Association, said DDC stopped purchasing milk from farmers to clear its stock of powdered milk purchased at higher price last year. "There is no reason why DDC should reduce purchase of fresh milk. Consumption of milk and milk products has not fallen," he added.

Stating that it has huge quantity of ghee in stock, DDC has said it was not in a position to purchase milk from farmers like in the past.

However, Paudel said they had requested the government to explore ways for clearing stock of dairy products with DDC.

"During our meeting with the finance minister, we had asked him to distribute ghee from DDC's stock to earthquake survivors. But the government purchased junk food like noodles and distributed them in quake-hit areas," he added.

Milk production is increasing in recent years due to introduction of different programs. A special quality milk production and promotion program has been implemented in Kavre, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Kathmandu, Nuwakot, Dhading and Chitwan districts to increase milk production. But the government has been failing to introduce programs to increase consumption of milk and other dairy products.

Narayan Prasad Badal, a leading dairy farmer of Kavre, said DDC's reluctance to purchase fresh milk from farmers will compel farmers to give up dairy farming.

According to Kavre District Livestock Service Office, 102,000 tons of milk was produced in the district in the last fiscal year. Around 80 percent of total milk production in the district is supplied to Kathmandu. There are 267 organized milk producers' cooperatives in the district. Kavre is the largest dairy producer in the country.

Source: Republica