Unlike in the previous hike of dairy products, this time dairy farmers are not benefiting as the DDC has not raised the procurement price of fresh milk.[break]
With the fresh hike, milk price has gone up to Rs 50 from Rs 48 per liter. Private dairies also decided on Saturday to jack up the price of fresh milk by the same rate effective from Sunday, a day after DDC´s milk hike took effect. DDC had last increased the procurement price of milk in January last year.
Dairies stated that prolonging load shedding time, hike in diesel used for running plants and transporting fresh milk and compulsion to produce powered milk to manage the rising stocks of fresh milk during the running flush season forced the dairy processor to jack of the price.
DDC, the largest player in Nepals´ dairy market, had a couple of days back also increased the price of ghee by Rs 40 to Rs 550 per liter. However, private dairies have not yet decided on hiking ghee price.
“As the fresh hike of ghee and milk is meant for only Kathmandu valley, we couldn´t raise the procurement price of milk. We are doing homework to review the procurement price in February when we also increase the price of ghee and milk in other parts of the country,” Siyaram Singh, general manager of DDC told Republica on Saturday. Singh said a team led by Babu Kaji Panta, Executive Director of National Dairy Development Board- the dairy regulator- had been formed to fix the procurement price of fresh milk.
According to Singh, DDC which has been suffering an annual loss of Rs 95 million will be able to reduce the loss to Rs 15 million with the latest review of milk and ghee price.
Singh said DDC has been producing powdered milk from 80,000 liters of surplus fresh milk daily since the starts of flush season in August. Out of the total 300,000 being procured from farmers, some 135,000 liters are supplies to the consumers in the capital. “To manage the surplus milk we are compelled to produce powdered milk though its cost of production has increased by 50 percent over the year,” said Singh.
Keshav Lamichhane, executive member of Dairy Industries Association- an organization of private dairies, also said increasing cost of production over the year had forced the dairies to raise the price of dairy products.
Dairy farmers demanded that the government take initiative to give relief to the farmers by providing subsidy in insurance and dairy inputs to cope rising cost of production of fresh milk.
“Currently we are not demanding price hike in milk. We need government support in cattle insurance and subsidy in dairy inputs. Farmers also have to seek ways to reduce the cost of production,” said Ananda Niure, chairman of Commercial Dairy Farmers Society in Chitwan.
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