Around 350,000 dairy farmers across Bangladesh are struggling to survive as the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak has thrown their businesses into disarray.
The shutdown has left them staring at huge financial losses with around 27,000 tonnes of milk going unsold each day, which the farmers can’t afford to throw away. In some areas, the price of milk is cheaper than water while farmers are also finding it hard to procure cattle feed.
Experts recommended immediate cash incentives for farmers and urged processing companies to turn their dairy produce into powdered milk to keep the sector afloat.
On the other hand, noted milk processing companies also claimed to be in trouble as the market has shrunk due to the shutdown. They urged the government to take necessary steps to ensure a smooth supply of dairy products, a household staple in the country.
“Dairy farms in the country are in a bad shape,” Shah Imran, president of Bangladesh Dairy Owners Association, told bdnews24.com.
Kashem Ali, owner of Marsh Agro in Faridpur’s Boalmari, gave a vivid picture of the current plight of dairy farmers. He has cut in half the food for his livestock, which includes 20 cows, four bulls and a few calves.
“We’re facing many different problems. Earlier, we used to supply milk mostly to sweet shops. Those shops are now closed. I tried to sell some milk in some other shops in urban areas but the price has dropped by almost a third,” said Kashem.
On top of that, it is now harder to get grains used as cattle feed while access to veterinarians has also been lost, he said.
“We’re making cream from the unsold milk and will make ghee later. I can sell the cream after two months but I need the cash now to feed my cattle. Milk Vita used to buy 2,000 litres of milk from us, which has dropped to 500 litres.”
The farmer called for immediate help in order to stay in business.
Source: bdnews24.com
