Govt readies dairy policy for cabinet approval

The government has prepared a draft of the proposed National Dairy Development Policy (NDDP) 2016, which is being formulated to help develop the sector in an organised manner.
"We've prepared the draft. It will go to the cabinet anytime soon for approval," department of livestock services (DLS) director general (DG) Dr Md Ainul Haque told the FE.
He said the draft suggested creating an ecosystem where all the stakeholders could smoothly interact and support each other.
It would also facilitate coordination among the operators like farmers, collectors, milk traders and dairy processors, and supporters such as livestock health workers, input suppliers, and government and non-government institutions of the value chain.
Officials said an organised dairy industry would have a great potential to contribute to achieve sustainable development goals and alleviate poverty.
The draft of the policy suggested introducing organised milk marketing system, and setting up of milk chilling plants to strengthen the value chain at the grass roots level and ensure benefits for the farmers.
 It also recommended increasing meat production, poultry development; ensuring veterinary services and animal health, feeds and fodder management, breeds development, proper management of hides and skins; proper marketing of livestock products; and formation of a national dairy board.  
 Creating employment opportunities for the marginal farmers through ensuring private sector participation would also be addressed in the policy.
It proposed ensuring quality veterinary medicines and feeds for the cattle while leasing out khas char land to the farmers for grazing.
Sector insiders said the consumption of dairy products in Bangladesh was growing over the years though the per capita consumption still remained much less than that of the requirement.
According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the present per capita consumption of milk per day in Bangladesh is only 150 millilitres (ml) as against World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended minimum daily intake requirement of 250 ml.
Apart from preparing the policy, the DG of DLS said, the government has also taken initiatives to train the dairy farmers at the grassroots level.
Around 1.2 million farmers have so far received training on dairy production, he said.
With the Bangladesh Bank support, farmers were getting low interest loans for cow rearing, he added.      
The consumption of dairy products in Bangladesh should be increased by five-fold, nutritionists suggest.
Though the local milk production increased, domestic supplies remained low and the country has to import milk and dairy products, as a result.
With growing domestic demand for dairy products, non-fat dry milk powder was being imported to meet the demand.
The country imported milk worth US$ 223 million during the fiscal year (FY) 2011-12, followed by $ 218 million in FY 2012-13, $ 199 million in FY 2013-14, $ 233 million in FY 2014-15 and $ 207 million in FY 2015-16, according to the central bank figures.
    talhabinhabib@yahoo.com