Dairy farmers have found some relief during the holy month of Ramadan, as many customers are buying milk for the month. Milk that farmers were selling at Tk 10–15 a litre only a few days ago is now selling at Tk 40 to 50 a litre, and farmers have breathed a little easier.

Farmers say Milk Vita and several private companies are buying milk from farmers in Sirajganj. The state-owned Milk Vita is buying at Tk 39.50 a litre, while those selling retail are getting Tk 45 to 50 a litre. Pran Dairy is also collecting 2 lakh litres a day from its contract farmers.

After all offices, courts and transport in the country shut from 26 March because of the coronavirus, shops and restaurants closed too, and even tea stalls stopped selling tea. Milk fell to Tk 10 a litre, and some sold it for as little as Tk 5. Thousands of litres of milk were spoiled for want of buyers.

Farmers say it will take a long time to recover from the losses the coronavirus has caused them. Even before that, high cattle-feed prices and low milk prices had put them in severe difficulty.

Conversations with farmers in various parts of the country show that many customers are buying milk for Ramadan, and some shops in nearby markets are opening. Many sweet and curd shops have reopened, even if on a limited scale, so demand for milk has risen and prices have recovered. But farmers are also worried: what will happen, they ask, if the coronavirus situation does not improve after Ramadan and everything shuts again?

At a press conference on 2 April, Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim said the ministry had written to all deputy commissioners, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Cabinet Division to take the steps needed to keep production, transport and marketing of poultry, eggs, day-old chicks, duck, chicken and cattle feed, dairy products, other animals and animal products, fish, fish fry and fish feed running without interruption during the government-declared holiday.

Farmers say, however, that the minister's decision has not been implemented in a month. Dairy farmers could not sell their milk, and poultry farmers sold chickens and eggs at less than half price. They allege that police did not let any vehicle run on the roads, even though the minister had ordered dairy and poultry items to be treated as raw materials and moved freely. Farmers also received no instructions from deputy commissioners. As a result these sectors lost thousands of crores of taka.

Abdus Samad Fakir, director of the dairy farmers' association in Shahjadpur, Sirajganj, told Jago News: "Milk Vita is now buying all the milk, and other private companies are buying too, so demand has risen a lot. Milk Vita is buying at Tk 39.50 a litre."

Answering a question, he said: "The Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman set up Milk Vita to change the fortunes of ordinary farmers and end people's malnutrition. If Milk Vita buys and markets milk properly, lakhs of farmers will no longer be stuck with crores of litres of milk. Instead, farmers will be encouraged."

Dairy farmer Habibar Rahman (Habi) of Ullapara village in Dhunat thana, Bogura, said: "Milk prices have risen since Ramadan began, and customers have increased too. Before Ramadan I sold milk at Tk 25 a litre; now it sells at Tk 40 to 50. The problem is that at the Hukum Ali bus stand we have to sell within two hours and go home, because the police do not let us stay longer. So when time runs out and there are no buyers, we often have to sell cheaply and go home."

Mohammad Momen of Kaliganj told Jago News his farm produces 170 to 180 litres of milk a day. He lost a lot of money for about a month after the coronavirus began, but for some days has been selling at Tk 50 a litre, as some shops and small stalls have opened. He said that if the cows stay healthy, the farm can survive at this price.

Asked about the country's dairy farmers, Dr Shamsul Alam, member of the Planning Commission's General Economics Division (GED) and former president of the agricultural economists' association, told Jago News: "Agriculture must be kept alive at any cost. Dairy and poultry farmers supply nutrition. The government has already announced a Tk 5,000 crore incentive for agriculture at 5 per cent interest, which dairy, poultry and fish farmers will also get." With the incentive, he said, they would be able to make up the losses these sectors suffered because of the coronavirus.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.