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THE DAIRY DEVELOPMENT IN BANGLADESH ------ WEST BENGAL AS

BENCHMARK

Dr.Prabir Dutta

INTRODUCTION:
A dairy plant having the capacity of handling 2000 litres of milk per day was established
at Lahirimohanpur,in the district of Pabna(now Sirajgang district) established in the year
1946.The name of the organization was National Nutrients Co.Ltd. with the target to sell
the processed milk and milk products in Kolkata(India) as the city had railway link.But
the idea could not be materialized due to the partition of India during independence in the
year 1947.Afterwards Eastern Milk Products Ltd.emerged under the brand name of
“MilkVita”with the dairy products viz.milk,butter and ghee(boiled milk fat)etc under
private ownership.In year 1965 first “Eastern milk producers’co-operative society Union
Ltd” was formed by the Government patronization.But the economic condition of the
organization did not stable and there was no alternative but to hand it over to Co-
operative Marketing Society.
The project envisaged the purchase of milk from the individual poor,marginal and
landless milk producing farmers under the fold of Primary Milk Producer’s Co-operative
Societies with fair price and guaranteed market,transportation service of the milk to the
rural plants for preliminary processing and onward transportation to the main production
plants for final processing of market milk and other products with the brand
name”MilkVita”.

INTERNATIONAL AID:
In the year 1972,soon after independent Bangladesh FAO,UNDP and DANIDA provided
technical and financial assistance to establish a sustainable co-operative dairy
development programme.At initial level involved 4300 very poor and landless
households in remote rural areas and provided complete package of milk production
enhancing technologies,rural skill and capacity for milk collection,processing,marketing
system.Thus the two tier milkvita co-operative dairy complex has grown into a successful
commercial dairy enterprise.60,000 farmers have organized 400 primary village milk
producers co-operatives having processed and distributed to all the major cities of the
country.41.32 million litres of milk surplus to their household requirement and earned
Tk.696.85 million (US$12.04MILLION) and per capita increased to 1.91 litres in a day
while per capita and earning raised ten times in a day.

OBJECTIVE OF THE CO-OPERATIVE COMPLEX.:

1.Improved household nutrition and increased purchasing power.


2.Increased milk yield and productivity of the plant.
3.Community empowerment to the poor through direct participation in organized co-
operatives.
4.Management skill developed through accountability of the MILK VITA board
members taken from milk producers.
5.Increased quantity and quality of safe pasteurized milk and products affordable for
consumers which enhanced health awareness.
6.Off farm employment generation created.

MORE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CO-OPERATIVE COMPLEX:

In 1979-82 “Consolidation of Co-operative Dairy Complex” implemented with more


investment and foreign exchange of Tk.16.18 million.
Thereafter a project titled BMRE(Balancing,Modernisation,Rehabilitation and Expansion
of the Co-operative Dairy Complex) was begun
with the cost of total Tk.263.69 million having foreign exchange component of
Tk.200.18.
Implementation of the project had an enormous impact on the overall activities of the
organization.Thus regained its capacity utilization which came down to a stage of low
profitability.Two new products viz.Instant Milk Powder and Ice-cream were also
incorporated.

CONSTRAINTS TO LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION IN BANGLADESH:


The five major factors have been identified most important in limiting animal agriculture
in Bangladesh are:

1.Poor nutrition /animal feed availability and land allotted to green fodder cultivation.
2.Poor organization of primary animal agriculture producers.
3.Poor extension service and information available to the farmers.
4.Problem associated with land ownership and absence of effective land and other
resources in planning of the country.
5.Poor market infrastructure
Farmers do not spare any land for cultivation of feeds to meet the requirement of
livestock.No doubt livestock play an important role in human nutrition,directly by
consumption of animal products and also through the sale of animals and animal products
to provide a source of income.But the contribution of livestock in providing food security
has seldom been examined and role of livestock in food security is still being
undervalued.

BACKGROUND OF CO-OPERATIVE DAIRY AS A POLICY OF DEVELOPMENT:


A dairy policy for overall dairy development both in short-term and long-term basis with
all other pertinent issues was felt from the very inception of dairy activities
of the country.Bangladesh has a population of about 129.00 millions presently of which
the major portion live in rural areas.Out of these rural population about 90 per cent are
farmers associated directly or indirectly with livestock either with agricultural
production and distribution process or for household nutrition.Bangladesh is yet to adopt
mechanization in agriculture and 90% of power needed are taken from domestic
animals.Bangladesh is having 23.40 million of cattle,0.82 million of buffaloes,33.50
million goat and 1.11 million of sheep population respectively.The average number of
different categories of livestock per acre of land is 1.60 for cattle and 1.03 for
goat/sheep.The such distribution of wide spread and a low livestock population,which is
constraint for effective control against harmful diseases and monitoring for better
treatment and management activities.Out of the total cattle-heads the proportion of milch
cows is 45% and each cow has got an average milk yield of about 200-300 litres per
lactation period of 180-240 days per yearly lactation period.
Milk is regarded to be the most ideal food.According to Directorate of Livestock
Services(DLS),Bangladesh produces about 1.62 million metric tones of liquid milk of
which 90% are of cows and balance 10% collected from goat and buffaloes.The quantity
of milk produced do not cater the existing consumption rate of the country which is about
1.77 million metric tones collected from domestic production and rest liquid milk
equivalent(LME) are of imported powder milk.
The import of powder milk became 18000 metric tones a year which is equivalent to 0.15
million metric tones of liquid milk i.e8.48% of the total consumed milk.
Powder milk is imported in the country by 25 kg bags along with difference size of cans
and sachets viz.2kg,1kg and 400gms in the form of full cream milk powder(FCMP) and
skimmed milk powder(SMP).The import of milk is in decline due price hike at exporting
level and Banladesh government also imposed higher taxation policy for the powder milk
to safeguard the local indigenous production.
Due to lack of the policy,neither the milk producing farmers are protected by way of
having fair price from the purchaser nor the free-import of powder milk is being
rationalized.Though the dairy sector in the recent years have been developed,and a
number of dairy organizations are supplying processed milk in the market,the major
supply of milk and milk products are still made directly from the raw milk supply sources
with hazardous exploitation-free organized system for milk collection but in the process
of indigenous supply,the producers are fully dependent on the middlemen who devices
the farmers regularly in milk weight as well as price.The farmers have got hardly any
alternatives since they need to transport the perishable milk product to the markets before
the quality of milk spoil resulting a huge loss.
The average fat percentage of milk produced in Bangladesh is in between 3.00-5.00%
and solid not fat(SNF) percentage ranges from 7.2-8.5%.The market milk supplied from
the dairy source in standardized for 3.5% fat and 8.00%SNF and the indigenous sources
market milk directly with produced standard sometime adulterating with water to
increase the quantity.
Specific taxation guidelines,standardization of the indigenous milk production,cattle
keeping and milk production rulesetc.along with all relevant issues are in need to be
promulgated through a Dairy Policy is still awaited.The present trend of continuous
increment in the cattle keeping practices by the farmers with economic pay back,is
expected to be helpful to attain the target of milk production.

DAIRY SCINARIO OF WEST BENGAL:

The dairy scenario of West Bengal is far from goal inspite of its rich livestock genetic
resources.The state now harvests 4.0 million metric tones of milk from a huge livestock
population of which 18.0 million cattle,1.0 million buffaloes,4.6 million goat and 1.4
million sheep respectively.The per capita availability is 130 gm/day,which is much below
than the recommended requirement stated by Indian Council of Medical Research of
250gm/day.The state is in need of 6.2 million metric tones of milk per year for her 68
million people,besides the market demands for sweet production.The malady lies in the
poor productivity of its livestock,which can produce nearly 400 litres of milk in a
lactation period of 180 days.There are six agro-climatic zones in the state and cattle are
the predominant livestock species in the all zones.The alluvial zone has the highest
concentration of bovines(237/sq.km),while the hill zone has the lowest
concentration(75/sq.km).

The state is highly suitable for sustaining high yielding crossbred cattle in all the zones
and Murrah buffaloes in the plains region.The choice of exotic sire will depend upon the
climatic condition and the availability of feed resources.Holstein-Friesian and Jersey,
both the temperate breeds are suitable for crossbreeding.But,Jersey crosses are more
efficient in milk production and earn more revenue because of higher fat and SNF content
in milk than Holstein-Friesian crosses.Inspite of Government target breeding policy to
resort to crossbreeding with Holstein-Friesian/Jersey breeds of sire limited to 50% of
exotic inheritance in West Bengal,the crossbreeds constitute 5% of the total cattle
population in the state.It proves that the farmers are not averse to adopt crossbreeding
technology to enhance milk production if opportunities were available.In West
Bengal,79% of the rural population are farmers.Dairing may provide them an opportunity
for earning livelihood for ever-growing unemployed youths both in rural and urban.

IMPACT OF DAIRY PROJECT IN BANGLADESH:

Bangladesh Milk Producers’Co-operative Union Limited(BMPCUL) dedicated towards


the rural socio-economic development of the country has emerged as a pioneering Co-
operative organization in the country.Its areas of operation in rural sector are spreaded
over to six-shed areas viz.Tangail,Manikganj,Tekerhat,Srinagar,Rangpur,Bhairab and
Baghabarighat covering about 16 districts with 42 police stations and 930 villages.The
planned activities for the last 3 decades,BMPCUL has created a significant impact on the
national economy in the milk production sector benefititing the farmers.The beneficiaries
from the activities of the project are:

60,000 poor,landless and marginal milk producing farmers who used to be exploited by
middlemen in traditional marketing system receive fair price through sale milk in a
guarunted market.

3,00,000 farmers’families who are directly dependant on the income of the Co-operative
members for their livelihood.

A large number of city dwellers receiving continuous supply of pure,safe,hygienic and


nutritious milk and milk products at a reasonable price.

More than 500 Rickshaw pullers have been engaged in the distribution system getting the
daily cash income.

More than 4000 people have got jobs both in rural and urban areas in milk production and
transportation.
Nearly 750 people have been engaged in the different plants and head office of the
organization.

100 new Co-operative farmers each year receive dividend and credit for cattle purchase.

In fact through the planned activities,not only fulfilling the poverty alleviation by way of
socio-economic development of the poor,marginal and landless farmers,but also helping
in increasing supply of quality milk and milk products to the citydwellers.

CONCLUSION:

Bangladesh and West Bengal are similar in food consumption.Though Bangladesh is a


country and West Bengal is a state of India but their culture ,mothertongue is one and
same.So,West Bengal as benchmark for dairy development in Bangladesh is significant
for socio-economic development.Backyard livestock farming system is the age old
practice wherefrom rural families were getting milk,meat and egg.The production and
availability of animal protein were considered to be more or less balanced particularly
with fish-a regular item in the diet both in West Bengal and Bangladesh.But with the
passage of time growth rate of human and livestock moved unevenly resulting protein
food insecurity of animal origin.As a result it is imperative to use animal resources to
grow as major part of agricultural productivity.Thus BMPCUL emerged as a successful
endeavour in Bangladesh assuring supplementary income for the poor,landless and
marginal milk producing farmers along with the women community associated on a
regular basis for milk Co-operative endeavour.It is contributing effectively and
continuously in raising income for the producers every year.Not only in the dairy
field,the livestock development process of the venture also contributing in the agricultural
production sector also.It is now a part and parcel of total agricultural production of the
countries.On the other hand,better power still is being received from the the improved
cattle for harvesting and their residuals are being used as biofertilizer for better
cropping.Bangladesh earning a higher amount of foreign currency out of the exports of
hide and bones of the cattle.All these activities have significant effect in the national
economy through the brand Milk Vita.It has shown the capability to undertake challenge
for further strengthening of its activities to increase dairy production and thereby
contribute effectively in the national economy through a strong and viable organization of
small farmers.As a brand Milk Vita recommends for:

Forming of an appropriate dairy policy of the country within a given period depicting all
pertinent issues;formation of the Dairy Development Board of Bangladesh with the
professional of the sector assuring adequate authority and autonomy;acquisition of land
for cattle grazing;Government,National and International assistance in the milk sector
both for plant establishment and infra-structural support;replication of Milk Vita model in
other part of the country through Government initiatives and funding both for farmers
and consumers benefit;channelising the poverty alleviation programmes through the
infrastructure of Milk Vita in all the milk-shed areas of Bangladesh.
With changing health scenario linked to nutrition and increasing purchasing power by
income generation thereby higher life expectancy will be fruitful by implementation of
above major issues effectively enhancing the domestic agricultural production.

References:

A strategy for Dairy Development in


Bangladesh,Dr.V.Kurien,Chairman,NDDB,India,UNDP/FAO,April,1987.

Dairy scenario of West Bengal ,Dr.R.K.Misra,National Dairy Research Institute,Eastern


Regional Station,Kalyani,West Bengal

MilkVita-the National Dairy Co-operative venture for economic development,Md.Nasim


Ali Mandal,Deputy General Manager(Operation),BMPCUL,Bangladesh

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