Milk shortage despite increased production in the country

Milk production in the country has more than doubled in a decade. Yet the demand of milk in the country still isn’t met. Even the per head milk consumption is less than it should be. Meanwhile, the price of milk is on a steady rise.

Concerned people say there’s an increase in the demand for dairy products rather than just milk. To meet this additional demand, we should focus on increasing milk production, they say.

According to the department of livestock services, milk production in the country back in the fiscal year 2012-13 was about 5.07 million tonnes.

It rose to more than 7.2 million metric tonnes in the next three fiscal years. And in 2016-17 fiscal year, it increased by 2 million tonnes at once and reached 9.2 million tonnes.

In 2021-22 fiscal year, milk production was 13.074 million tonnes. This however is failing to meet the country’s demand of milk. Since the annual demand of the country is 15.6068 million (1,56,68,000) tonnes.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) standards, a person needs to drink 250 ml of milk daily. As per the department of livestock services, daily per head milk production in the country is 208 ml. Two years back, it was only 175 ml.

However, there is a debate over these official data on milk production and per head milk consumption. Some believe that the data collection method isn’t accurate.

On Wednesday professor Ashiqul Islam of the department of dairy science at Bangladesh Agricultural University told Prothom Alo, undoubtedly country’s milk production has increased in the last decade.

However, there’s doubt about the accuracy of the official production records. The department of livestock services’ data collection method should be more precise, he remarked.

Tajul Islam, a shop assistant at Manipuripara in the capital, sells packaged pasteurised milk. He was saying that sales have dropped slightly because of the increase in milk price.

During this time last year, he used to sell 25 litres of milk a day. Now he sells 20 to 22 litres. He believes, people buy less milk because of the price hike of other daily commodities.

Back in 2018, the price of pasteurised milk per litre was Tk 60 to 65. Even in 2021, the price was within Tk 70 to 75. But, now the price has gone up to Tk 90.

Concerned people point to the price of cattle feed going up as the main reason behind milk price hike.

Bangladesh dairy farmers’ association general secretary Shah Imran said that 70 per cent of the cost of producing a litre of milk goes into buying cattle feed.

Apart from that, there’s the issue of increase in labour costs and the price of other daily commodities as well, he said.

Bangladesh Milk Producer’s Co-Operative Union Ltd. (Milk Vita) chairman Sheikh Nadir Hossain told Prothom Alo that they buy milk at Tk 55.30 per litre including transportation costs at the farm level.

Other companies buy that at Tk 47 per litre. Plus, various incentives including free grass seeds, medical costs and an extra taka per litre for producing more than 10,000 litres of milk are given, he added.

Sheikh Nadir claims, "After paying off all expenses, we make a profit of 55 paisa on per litre of milk.”

Harun-ur-Rashid, professor of dairy science at Bangladesh Agricultural University, depicting a picture of price hike in cow feed  said that even just a year ago, price of a 37 kg bag of grain husks was between Tk 1,000 to 1,200. Now it sells at Tk 2000.

Researchers say that low productivity of the cows is one of the reasons for the low production of milk in the country. Professor Harun said that a cow in our country produces eight to ten litres of milk daily in 305 days of the year on average. But in cold countries, a cow produces up to 22 to 30 litres of milk every day.

Professor Harun said, "Cows in our country often don't feed on quality food. And their production capacity is low because of that. Our local grass is relatively low in protein. And, not many farmers are interested in alternative cultivation for better quality grass.”

Alongside liquid milk, the demand of dairy products is also rising in the country. Bangladesh Dairy Farmers’ Association general secretary Shah Emran said, “From home surveys we have found that elders have a habit of drinking milk. And relatively younger people are more prone to consume different dairy products such as sweets, curd, labang (a yoghurt drink), etc.”

Milk Vita collects 230,000 litres of milk daily from farmers. As much as 130,000 litres of that is required for producing powder milk. Out of the remaining 100,000 litres, 60,000 to 70,000 litres are turned into pasteurised liquid milk and the rest are used to make different products.

Milk Vita chairman Sheikh Nadir Hossain told Prothom Alo, Milk Vita used to produce three or four dairy products before. A total of 22 products including ice-cream, choc-bar, cake, labang, etc. are produced now. We had to focus on this side for the increased demand of dairy products.

The government has taken up an initiative to form Bangladesh Dairy Development Board to facilitate the dairy sector and to produce quality milk as well as dairy products. The cabinet approved the draft of ‘Bangladesh Dairy Development Board Act-2023’ on last 10 April for that.

It’s being said on behalf of the government that once this act is implemented, it will improve the farm management as well as increase the production of milk and dairy products. Plus, food security will be ensured too.

Many people of the milk sector have welcomed this government initiative. However, they have also urged to protect the autonomy of this board. Besides, they also emphasised on the creating human resources for the development of the dairy sector.

Ashikul Islam, professor at the dairy science department of Bangladesh Agricultural University said, “Trained human resources have to be created for the dairy industry. Otherwise, we won’t be able to keep up with the global market.”