Bad days for 492 Jhenidah dairies
Low price of milk, high price of feed
Many of the 492 dairies in the district are facing closure as farm owners are incurring losses due to very low prices of milk and rise in the prices of fodder and animal medicines.
Acute shortage of livestock service providers is also a cause of concern for the farm owners.
"The price of all types of fodder like straw, oil cake, granular rice and pulses powder have increased recently. Now each bundle of straw is selling for Tk 20-22 compared to Tk 12 a few weeks ago," said Masudur Rahman, a dairy farm owner at Kabirpur village in Shailkupa upazila.
A kg of oil cake is sold between Tk 25-30 against previous price of Tk 15, granular rice Tk 24-25 against Tk 15 and pulse powder between Tk 28-30 against Tk 20, he said, adding that green fodder like napier and local varieties are almost unavailable in the market.
"Medicare facilities from the local livestock department are almost unavailable for the dairy farmers. The officials concerned do not visit our farms when required, even after repeated requests," said Rashedin, another dairy farm owner in Kaliganj upazila.
Several farm owners said the dairy business is gradually becoming a losing concern, as the price of milk remains very low round the year.
Usually, one litre of fresh milk is sold for Tk 18-20 in the upazila markets, and the price is even lower in the remote areas, they said.
The price of milk sees rise only during a few special days of festivities.
"Some non-governmental organisations have been providing loans for the dairy farms around the country. But they realise over 25 per cent interest a year although the government has advised the micro credit providers not to charge more that 12.5 per cent as service charges," said a dairy farm owner in the district headquarters requesting anonymity.
Farmers said that a local cow might daily provide two to three litres of milk that is sold at Tk 50 on an average, while the fodder and other costs sum up to at least Tk 60.
A better breed of cow provides six to seven litres of milk a day, which can be sold for Tk 120, but the fodder and other costs sum up to at least Tk 140 a day.
District Livestock Officer (DLO) of Jhenidah Mokorondo Biswas said, "Only three field staff of my department have been providing services for the whole of Jhenidah upazila for long. It is not possible for them to move everywhere, even in emergency."
Regarding the supply of medicines from the government stores to the dairies, the DLO said, "Now a number of pharmaceutical companies are producing varied and optimum medicines for the animals. These are sold in the open market for reasonable prices."
About low prices of fresh milk in the rural areas, he said that the private entrepreneurs should purchase milk directly from the producers, as the government is not involved in the act.
According to livestock office records, 134,786 cows of 492 dairy farms in the district provide 173,375 tonnes of milk as against the demand for 444,120 tonnes a year.
There are 25,487 cows in 148 farms in Jhenidah Sadar, 54,610 cows in 97 farms in Shailkupa, 10,118 cows in 14 farms in Harinakundu, 25,875 cows in 169 farms in Kaliganj, 7,983 cows in 32 farms in Kotchandpur and 10,713 cows in 32 farms in Moheshpur upazila.
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