Dairy farmers stage demo in Pabna

Dairy farmers in Bhangura upazila of Pabna today staged a demonstration over four companies’ suspension of procuring milk from them following a High Court order.

Thousands of farmers staged the protest at Bhangura Bus Stand area in the upazila from 11:00am to 2:00pm and at one stage poured their milk on the road.

The HC yesterday ordered the authorities to stop production, distribution and sale of pasteurised milk of 14 companies for the next five weeks.

The HC gave the order after examining three separate laboratory test reports, which found that the milk of these companies contains antibiotics Oxytetracycline, Tetracycline and Ciprofloxacin as well as lead, a harmful heavy metal.

Among the 14 companies, which are all registered under the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), four companies Akij Food and Beverage Ltd (Farm Fresh Milk), Bangladesh Milk Producers’ Cooperative Limited (Milk Vita), BRAC Dairy and Food Project (Aarong Dairy), and Pran Dairy Ltd (Pran Milk) procure milk from the producers in the upazila.

Around 1,400 dairy farmers in the upazila are from Patharghata village alone, said Harunur Rashdi, coordinator of the dairy farmers’ association in the village.

“We produce around 4,000 litres of milk every day and sell the milk to the four companies which operate here. This is our livelihood. Now the companies have halted procuring milk from us following the HC order. How are we going to live now?” Rashid said.

“Since the HC ordered a suspension on our milk production, sale and distribution for five weeks in its order yesterday, we have halted procuring milk from the farmers for the time being until the court lifts the suspension,” said Ashraf-Uz-Zaman, in charge of Bhangura collection unit of Milk Vita.

Milk Vita, a state-sponsored cooperative, collects milk from 100,000 farmers across the country.

Representatives of dairy farmers and some processors said the HC rule would hurt dairy farmers, who depend largely on selling their produce to milk companies.

Milk processing companies collect more than 8 lakh litres of milk daily from nearly 200,000 farmers in dairy farming zones in the north.

Domestic milk production is growing gradually on the back of increased farming.

The overall production rose by 6 percent year-on-year to 99 lakh tonnes in fiscal 2018-19 from 94 lakh tonnes a year ago, according to the livestock department.

In addition, more than 125,000 tonnes of milk powder are imported annually to meet household and industrial demand, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data.

Source: thedailystar