Tripura Dairy Farmers Stare at Starvation amid COVID-19 Lockdown

Agartala, March 30, 2020:

Hari Prasad, a dairy farmer from Agartala aged 35, has no option but to dump his milk in a drain. It is not that his milk is bad in quality or lacks nutritional value. With the economy in doldrums, the Tripura dairy farmer is unable to access the market amid the 21-day lockdown, which is causing his predicament.

Speaking to Inside Northeast, he said, “The situation turned so pathetic after the lockdown was announced that we have to dump the excessive milk that we procure."

Hari hails from Goalabasti, a slum area where a majority of the dwellers trade milk, and they have all been hit hard by the sudden lockdown that was imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

[Note: 10,000 to 15,000 liters of milk is milked in the area everyday. The area has more than 15,000 lactating cows which are needed to be fed and milked everyday]

“Since the last few days the milk trade in Tripura has witnessed a massive dip. The milk-based sweet shops are the main source of our business as they procure the lion's share of our milk. But, due to the lockdown, almost every sweet vendor has shut shop leaving us in a quandary”, said Prasad.

Nagina Prasad Ray of the same locality also echoed a similar sentiment and added, "The government should come forward and procure the milk, at least at half the usual price, so that our livelihoods can be saved."

“Everyday, each of the household of this locality milks 30 to 35 liters of milk which can be easily marketed is sold at around Rs 70 per liter in the market. But, ever since the lockdown, we have been forced to sell our milk at Rs 10-30, which is badly affecting our income”, Ray added.

He also requested the Tripura government to take initiatives to procure milk from them so that they could sustain their daily bread and butter.

“It has become very hard for us to sustain in the prevailing situation. The only way to resolve our problem is to sell our products and only the government can ensure this. It should ask the local diary union to procure our milk, otherwise are sure to die of starvation. The cattle fodder has also become a problem. Earlier, 3 to 4 trucks of fodder used to come to our locality, but since the lockdown has been clamped, no movement of fodder is allowed”, Ray said.

Allegations were also raised by the local milk sellers that the milk union, despite having adequate stock capacity, refusing to procure milk.

"During the time of special events and festivals such as Pohela Baisakh, Shiva Chaturdashi and Ambobachi, some of the religious occasions of the Bengali community, the Milk Union stockpiles a huge quantity of milk. They should come forward in this time of crisis too so that the milk producers can at least have the minimum prices for their product", said another local of the milk sellers' slum.

A highly placed member of the Gomati Milk Union, told us that the Government is very much aware of the situation. “Everyday, 10 to 12 thousand liters of milk pouches of Gomati milk co-operative were sold in the market. But, now the sales have sunk to 6,000 liters everyday. In such a state, procurement of extra milk will lead to huge losses which we can’t afford at this point time when markets are crashing almost everywhere."

Agriculture expert and chairman of Bagma FPO Sudip Majumder said, “Although the country has been locked down, essential services like milk should not face any hamper in business as this is the time when nutritious food should be consumed. The main problem behind the issue is that in Tripura, milk parlors could not be developed. If milk parlors were there, milk based food items would have faced no problem in marketing."

With inputs from Mrinal Banik

Support Inside Northeast (InsideNE), an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.