Milk to cost Rs 38 per packet from Saturday

Milk will cost Rs 38 for a half-litre packet from Saturday as the farm gate price has increased. Currently, it costs Rs 35 for a half-litre packet of milk.
Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) has agreed to increase the price of milk by Rs 6 per litre to Rs 76 per litre after the continuous pressure from dairy cooperatives and private dairies.
Out of this increased price, farmers will get Rs 4.16 more per litre for a total of Rs 52.46 per litre. Dairy processing companies will get Rs 23.54 per litre, up by Rs 1.84 from earlier, the DDC said in a press note.
Earlier, the DDC had hiked the milk price on August 17, 2017.
The DDC has decided to revise the price upward after receiving the green signal from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development on Thursday, according to the state-owned dairy. “The corporation had proposed the ministry to hike the price to provide relief to milk producers, who have been complaining of a sharp rise in production costs in the past two years,” it confirmed, adding that the ministry’s green signal to jack up the price has helped increased the share of farmer take home money.
Currently, the domestic market is dominated by the Dairy Development Corporation that captures a 40 per cent market share in the country’s dairy business and acts as a market maker.
The Central Dairy Cooperative Association and private dairies have been since for the past few months pressuring the government to hike the milk price by Rs 6 to Rs 10 per litre. They had also warned the government of protest, if the price was not increased.
Nepal produces 2.25 million tonnes of milk daily, of which half is consumed at the local level, one-third is sold by farmers directly to their customers, whereas the rest is packaged and labeled for sale through business outlets, according to the DDC, according to the National Dairy Development Board. “Of the total milk produced in the country, Kathmandu Valley consumes around 60 per cent as the demand for milk in the Valley stands at 500,000 litres daily.”
The government has recently banned the powdered milk imports, and rise in demand with the start of the festival season, and also due to ongoing lean season – from April to September when the milk production drops by 15 per cent – Valley is witnessing the shortage of milk.
The DDC produces powdered milk at its plant in Biratnagar, apart from two private companies – Chitwan Milk in Bharatpur and Sujal Dairy in Pokhara – also produce powdered milk. The total production of the three factories stands at 1,700 tonnes to 1,800 tonnes annually, according to the board.

Milk price to go up by Rs 10 per litre

The government is likely to hike milk price by up to Rs 10 per litre targeting the rise in cost of milk production for farmers.
According to acting executive director of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) Babukaji Panta, the preparation is under way to raise milk price by up to Rs 10 per litre. Panta is the coordinator of the task force formed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD) to review milk price.
The ministry – on Wednesday – has formed an eight-member task force led by Panta to revise milk price. The task force includes representatives from Nepal Dairy Association, Dairy Industry Association, Central Dairy Cooperative Association, Dairy Development Corporation, Department of Livestock Services, and technical officer of NDDB.
The farmers had been demanding to hike upto Rs 10 per litre since long. But they are still holding consultations with other stakeholders on this front. “The task force will soon submit its report to the government recommending that the milk price be increased in favour of farmers,” Panta said, adding that farmers will get 69 per cent of the raised price of milk – after the revision – while dairies and milk distributors will get the remaining amount like they are getting now.
The Central Dairy Cooperative Association has also been lobbying that the government should increase milk price by Rs 10 per litre as the price has not been revised since more than two-and-a-half years. “The government is reluctant to raise milk price though inflation has hit every sector,” the association informed.

Dairy development policy amendment on cards

National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) is planning to amend Dairy Development Policy (DDP-2007) to improve the dairy industry in rural areas and to uplift the livelihood of dairy producers. The board is going to be amended the 12-year old policy that has never been implemented.
The NDDB has planned to regulate and develop the dairy industry making the amended policy more flexible. The draft amendment has changed the provision related to establishment of a dairy fund for the welfare of the dairy industry.
“The government enterprises, cooperatives and private dairy firms would have to pay service tax on each litre of milk to the dairy fund,” the initial draft read, adding that the collected amount would be spent on the development of various areas of the dairy industry. The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD) has, however, not endorsed the policy forcing the board to amend it. The board has thus now made the policy more flexible by softening the provision and the dairy fund will be set up through the contribution of stakeholders, which means industrialists are no more obliged to pay service tax for the dairy fund.
Likewise, the draft provision has not changed the policy mostly related to preserving and promoting livestock farming, providing grants and subsidies to farmers involved in dairy industry, providing required machinery, conducting awareness programmes and skill-based trainings along with establishing cold stores and warehouses.