Need for Lcal Dairy Industries Highlighted

November 25: The National Dairy Cooperative Association (NDCA) has demanded that the government bolster local milk production by formulating short and long-term policies.

In a press conference organised on Nov 23, the NDCA stressed the need for a policy arrangement to give priority to indigenous dairy products.

Chairperson of the association Narayan Prasad Devkota highlighted the need for operating existing dairy industries to their full capacity and to start the operation of Chitwan Milk which has remained closed.

Nepal is said to be self-sufficient in milk and the dairy industry is one of the few industries which does not need import of raw materials. The entrepreneurs demanded the government subsidise powder milk production to end the situation of ‘milk holiday’. Devkota informed that Nepal Police and Nepal Army were consuming 60,000 litres of milk daily.

Describing how India’s blockade had affected the milk industry by also forcing farmers to observe a ‘milk holiday’, the dairy entrepreneurs called upon the government to take steps to promote indigenous dairy products in the country.