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Kathmandu Monday September 24, 2001 Ashwin 08, 2058.
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Milk producers suffer market
absence
By Prabhakar Ghimire & Krishna Bhandari
CHITWAN, Sept 23 - Steady growth in milk
production but lack of capacity enhancement of dairy plant for the past 14 years, milk
producers of this inner Terai district are facing problem.
Officials of Dairy Development Project admit
that the production of milk is growing every year, but they have not been able to enhance
the capacity of their plant and the farmers are facing problem of selling milk.
Besides this, frequent general strikes and
blockade of roads obstruct them from selling their milk.
As most of the milk producers have taken
loans from banks and financial institutions, it has been very difficult for them to repay
the loans as they cannot sell their production.
Pradeep Kumar Pathak, Chairman of Nava Dugdha
Utpadak Sahakari Sanstha (New Milk Producers’ Cooperative) Birendranagar, says as the
farmers cannot sell their milk regularly, almost 75 per cent of the milk producers have
been unable to repay their bank loans.
"The prices of fodder is ever-rising,
but the price of milk is the same. Not only that they cannot even sell their production
regularly. How can farmers sustain?," Pathak questions.
Shankar Raj Bhandari, vice-chairman of Milk
Producers’ Association Chitwan District, says the production of milk is increasing by
20 per cent each year, but the capacity of the plant is the same for the past 14 years.
That’s why, farmers cannot sell their production as they desire.
He says the total milk production in the
district last year was 70 thousand litres, which has gone up to 85 thousand litres this
year out of which the project buys about 25 thousand litres and private dairies buy more
or less the same quantity of milk annually.
The plant’s capacity is the same for the
past 14 years but milk production has surged. Moreover, the dairy products do not have
reliable market. Therefore, the project is not in a condition to purchase more milk, says
Ajab Lal Yadav, manager of the project.
But milk producers have been complaining of
the dairies of buying powdered milk from India, which is cheaper than the liquid milk, and
discouraging farmers. However, the owners of dairies refute the blame.
With an aim of leading the district in milk
products, a powdered milk factory’s foundation stone was laid about five years ago,
but not a single brick has been added to it yet.
The factory is said to have a capacity of
processing 200 thousand litres of milk daily.
Only the operation of the powdered milk factory
can be the sustainable measure to solve the present problem, says Yadav.
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