April 19: With the decline in production of milk, there is a short supply of 500,000 liters of milk in the market every day. Although the demand for milk in the market is the same, there is a shortage due to the decline in milk production caused by a decline in the number of dairy farmers.

The number of farmers producing milk decreased after the dairy industry, which was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, failed to get back on the track.

According to Prahalad Dahal, president of Nepal Dairy Association, around 600,000 households were associated with milk production across the country before the Covid-19 pandemic. But after failing to recover, only 500,000 households are involved in this profession now.

Dahal said that with the decrease in the number of farmer families involved in dairy farming, milk production also decreased at the rate of 500,000 liters per day. Earlier, 6,200,000 liters of milk used to be produced every day. Now, this umber has been reduced to 5,700,000 liters. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, 3,100,000 liters of milk was supplied daily in the market, which has now dropped to only 2,600,000 liters. With the onset of summer season, the consumption of dairy products like curd, buttermilk, ice cream has increased.

While there is a shortage of milk, the stock of powdered milk with the powder plants has also dropped to zero. Rajkumar Dahal, president of the Dairy Industry Association said that the stocks of milk powder and butter have been depleted since the production did not increase this year during the period of high milk production from August to February.

He also informed that after the shortage of milk appeared in the market, businessmen asked the government for permission to import milk. As per the information of the Nepal Dairy Development Board, the government-owned Dairy Development Corporation, the private sector’s Nepal Dairy Association and the Dairy Industry Association have submitted an application to the Board under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development seeking permission to import milk from India. The board and the ministry are yet to respond to the proposal.

Currently, there is a shortage of milk not only in Nepal but worldwide. According to the data of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, milk production has decreased by 15 percent worldwide.

Last year also in October, the government had given permission to import milk from India for 1 month. However, due to the festive season, the dairymen did not import enough milk at that time.