Dozens of Dairy farm owners of Manda upazila under Naogaon district have poured milk on the road at Deluabari Bazaar area on Rajshahi-Naogaon highway in protest against the low milk price on Thursday noon.
The farmers were demanding a fair price for milk and shifting the place of selling milk.
According to local cattle farm owners and the Office of Upazila Animal Resources, in several hundred dairy farms of the upazila, nearly 125,000 litres of milk from 16,775 cattle heads are being produced daily. The largest milk market of the upazila is situated at Deluabri Bazaar where the farmers bring nearly 5,000 litres of milk to sell daily. But, the farmers alleged, due to the unholy practices of some local traders and the 'Ghose Syndicate'(Persons who deal in milk), the farmers are being deprived of getting a fair price of milk. Due to the malpractice of the syndicate, the farmers at the market are being forced to sell milk only at Tk 30 to 40 per litre. As a result, the dairy farm owners are incurring a huge loss. Being frustrated, many farmers are also abandoning their profession. Moreover, the milk-selling centre of the market being situated inside a narrow alley, wholesale milk traders fail to arrive at the market with large vans or trucks to purchase and carry milk outside the upazila. Taking this opportunity, some milk dealers and wholesale milk traders have formed a syndicate and are purchasing milk at a throwaway price from the farmers.
Abdul Mannan, a dairy farm owner of Jotbazaar village of the upazila informed, he gets 110 to 120 litres of milk daily from his nine milking cows. He sells milk at Deluabari Bazaar. He complained, for the last 5 to 6 months, he's been selling milk at Tk 30 to 40 per litre. It requires at least Tk 10,000 to rear a milking cow per month. He said he is incurring loss by selling milk at such a low price.
Fazley Nur, Secretary of Manda Dairy Association informed, the main problem of the dairy farmers and traders is the narrow marketplace for selling milk. The place being congested, wholesale milk traders from outside are reluctant to visit the market. Taking this opportunity, some local traders by forming a syndicate are purchasing milk from the local farmers at a throwaway price. He further said the dairy association leaders are demanding to shift the selling place of the milk from the present location to the Kharhati area of Deluabari beside Naogaon-Rajshahi highway where the wholesale milk traders from outside the upazila would be able to arrive and carry milk through vans and trucks easily. He hopes the shifting of the selling location at Kharhati will ensure a fair price for milk.
Nuruzzaman, Upazila Animal Resource Officer of Manda informed us, the selling spot of milk at Deluabari Bazaar is very congested and unhygienic. Wholesale milk traders can not enter the market with large vehicles. As a result, the farmers are being deprived of a fair price of milk. The effort is underway to shift the selling spot beside the highway, he added. He also said that the problem of the Milk Syndicate will also go with the shifting of the place.
