95 crore dues of DDC and Rs 2 billion of private dairies
When Covid-19 disrupted the overall market, it had a direct impact on the dairy sector as well. There was an imbalance in the milk market. The consumption of dairy products also decreased. During the lockdown during the first wave of covid from Chait 11, 2076, there was about 3 billion rupees worth of powdered milk and butter in stock.
After the milk products were not sold, the dairy industry started hesitating to pay the farmers . By February 2077, the three-month arrears owed by the Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) to the farmers reached 750 million . Private dairy also did not pay for two months .
DDC took a 20 crore loan from the Ministry of Agriculture to pay the farmers. But the farmers did not get the payment on time . Then in February 2079, the payment was stopped again for three months. The situation of private dairies also remained the same . By February 2080, the arrears increased to about 7 billion. About 6 billion from Dairy Industry Association and Dairy Association and about 900 million from DDC. Although DDC has taken loans from the government many times and paid some amount, it has not been able to do it completely . At this time, the arrears to be paid to the farmers is 95 crore rupees.
'Covid had some problems. However, the market has become easier since last year. The consumption of dairy products is also normal, the problem of private dairies has also been solved," said a senior official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.
The official says that there is a problem when the DDC is operating in a traditional manner. He has not been able to come up with a market strategy. DDC has taken a loan of 90 crores last year only to pay the farmers. But the problem has not been solved yet," said the official, "this shows that the leadership has failed. A new planning strategy is needed for the reform of DDCs.'
Government-owned DDCs and private dairies generally have to pay within 15/15 days. But most of the farmers of DDC have not received payment for four months . The payment conditions of private dairies are also the same .
Central Dairy Cooperative Association President Amar Kunwar said that farmers are in a lot of trouble due to non-payment by the government and private dairies. Farmers have been cheated many times. There is an agreement to pay but the farmer doesn't get it . Recently, dues of private dairies and DDC have reached 3 billion," President Kunwar said, "How long will milk be sold on loan? Who will understand the problem of farmers?'
After the increase in arrears, 15 farmers' organizations including the Nepal Farmers' Federation and the National Farmers' Network, the All Nepal Farmers' Federation, the National Democratic Farmers' Organization, the Central Dairy Cooperative Association of Nepal, the Nepal Dairy Farmers' Association, and the Milk Producers' Farmers' Association of Nepal came out in protest. Milk was poured in front of the concerned district administration office. 33 places including the highway were blocked.
Finally, on February 19, 2080, in the presence of the then Agriculture Minister Beduram Bhusal, it was agreed between the milk producers and processors that the dairy industry would make the payment up to the end of December 2080 by March 21 and the farmers would withdraw their agitation. However, as in the past, the farmers have been cheated in the last time as well. Currently, Ramnath Adhikari is the Minister of Agriculture . He has been saying that farmers will be paid on time . On his own initiative, DDC also got a loan . However, the farmers have not yet received the money on time .
Neelkanth Gautam, the information officer of DDC, accepted that the payment of the farmers has been pending since November. He said that due to the increased collection of milk in the market, there has been some delay in the payment. Payment has been made till August. There are four months left from October. Due to the increase in milk collection, there has been some problem in payment," he said. And by selling the same powder, we make payment easier.'
October, November, Pus, Magha, Fagun and Chait are the months when milk is produced the most. Then the dry season begins . Generally, dairies purchase milk during peak milk production season and make the powder . In order to avoid shortage of milk in the dry season, they meet the demand of the market through powdered milk. Payment has been stopped according to the same strategy.
"DDC has collected up to 125,000 liters of milk daily during the season of high milk production". However, the daily consumption is 90,000," Gautam said. "During the dry season, 70 to 80,000 liters are collected a day. Now we meet the demand with powder conversion milk . We also pay the farmers. DDC said that there are 800 tons of powdered milk and 700 tons of butter in stock.
Even the dairy industry has not paid nearly two billion to the farmers . However, President of Nepal Dairy Association Prahlad Dahal said that there is no problem in other than two/four big industries. "Small dairies have paid on time," he said, "There may be problems in some big industries but not in small ones." However, Rajkumar Dahal, president of Nepal Dairy Industry Association, said that there are problems in all dairy industries, big and small.
'Most of the dairy industry has yet to pay the farmers, the problem is all in the dairy . The arrears to be paid to the farmers are about 2 billion," said Chairman Dahal, "The balance has been increasing since November, the arrears have also increased. Farmers could not be paid after not selling . The market could not come to balance.' He says that the outstanding amount may increase by March. After that, farmers will be paid by selling stock, he said.
