December 28: During this season when milk production should have increased, the country is facing a daily shortage of 100,000 litres of milk.

Due to the lack of milk in the domestic market, the government has opened the doors for importing milk from India as per the demand. But the importers are yet to import milk from India stating that it won’t be profitable if they cannot sell the milk in the Nepali market due to the high cost.

At present, 600,000 litres of milk is being supplied to the Nepalese market daily, while the demand is 700,000 litres.

Milk production is yet to improve due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Nepal Dairy Association, there was an average shortage of 150,000 litres of milk per day during the marriage season. 

“But even though the wedding season is over now, we are facing a daily shortage of 100,000 litres of milk,” said Hem Chandra Khanal, general secretary of the association. 

"Milk production should increase, and consumption should decrease between mid-August to mid-February. But we are reeling under shortage of milk at a time when the production should have plentiful," he said.

He said that it is necessary to facilitate import of milk to balance the demand and supply. Also, the price of milk in the domestic market needs to be increased on par with the prices in the international market, said Khanal.

Last October, the dairy industry and businessmen had demanded the government allow the import of milk. The government allowed import of milk amidst the opposition from the milk-producing farmers. Even though the import was opened, importers did not dare to import milk as the price was expensive in the Indian market.

Importers did not import because it would not be beneficial to bring it at a high price and sell it at a competitive price in the Nepali market.

In the Indian market, the base price of milk is Rs 70 per litre whereas the price in Nepal is only Rs 64 per litre. The association has said that the farmers and industrialists have been affected since the price of milk in Nepal has not increased for the last two years. To avoid a shortage of milk in the domestic market, the association said that the government should facilitate the import of milk after collecting accurate data on demand and production.