HC orders 4 companies stop collecting milk, dairy farmers protest in Pabna
Rumi Akter Polly of DOT
Yesterday dairy farmers of Bhangura upazila in Pabna made a protest on four companies suspension of collecting milk from them according to a High Court order, reports the daily star.
From 11 am to 2 pm, thousands of farmers staged the protest in Bhangura Bus Stand area of the upazila from and at one stage they poured their milk on the road, reports the daily star’s Pabna correspondent.
On Sunday the HC ordered the authorities to stop production, distribution and sale of 14 company’s pasteurised milk for the next five weeks.
The HC passed the order after examine the three different laboratory test reports which found that the milk of these companies contains antibiotics like Oxytetracycline, Tetracycline and Ciprofloxacin as well as lead, a harmful heavy metal.
Amid 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) collect milk from the producers in the upazila.
Harunur Rashdi, coordinator of the dairy farmer’s association in the village said that around 1,400 dairy farmers in the upazila are from Patharghata village alone.
“Everyday we produce around 4,000 litres milk and sell the milk to the four companies which operate here. This is our livelihood. Now they have stopped collecting milk from us following the HC order. How are we going to live now?” Rashid said.
Ashraf-Uz-Zaman, in charge of Bhangura collection unit of Milk Vita said, “Since the HC ordered a suspension on our milk production, sale and distribution for five weeks in its order yesterday, we have stopped collecting milk from the farmers for the time being until the court lifts the suspension.”
Milk Vita, a state-sponsored cooperative, collects milk from 100,000 farmers over the country.
Dairy farmer’s representative and some processors said that the HC order would hurt dairy farmers who depend largely on selling their productions to milk companies.
Milk processing companies collect more than eight lakh litres 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.
Following the data of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), more than 125,000 tonnes milk powder are imported annually to meet household and industrial demand.