Lack of monitoring cheers private companies to supply low quality milk to the market
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of LGRD has alleged that private milk companies supply low quality milk to the market. The parliamentary watchdog said these companies buy low-quality milk from local and foreign sources and mix it with harmful substances and sell at lower prices than Milk Vita, a government milk producing company. The JS body stressed the need for informing the public about this matter. This issue was also discussed in the previous meeting of the committee.
Sources at Rural Development and Cooperative Department said Milk Vita currently has the capacity to process 4 lakh litres of milk. Milk Vita collects milk at an average rate of Tk 50 per kg but farmers sell the milk in the open market and fetch Tk 70-90 per litre in some cases. The committee recommended presenting Milk Vita more attractively to people through promotion and advertisement.
We know the country’s dairy milk industry has been struggling to thrive and meet local demand due mainly to poor monitoring of quality control and pricing and an absence of institutional farming and high-yield cows. In terms of per capita milk consumption, Bangladesh stands near the bottom on the global list. According to Bangladesh Bank data, the country imported more than one lakh tonnes of milk powder and dairy derivatives by spending Tk 2,000 crore in 2021.
Despite the huge demand and growth potential, the advancement of the industry is impeded by several challenges in the ecosystem. The informal segment of the industry is dominated by small-scale farmers and market intermediaries, so quality control processes are apparently non-existent. As a result, the quality of milk is not being ensured. As farmers do not get the fair prices for their produce, they are often tempted to adulterate milk to increase quantity to cover their costs.
The demand for milk and milk products is increasing because of the spread of education, growing nutrition awareness among people. The government should focus more on how to increase per cattle production of milk.
