Rs50 per litre hike in milk price demanded by Karachi farmers

KARACHI: Dairy farmers in Karachi urged the government to approve a Rs50 per litre hike in milk price, citing heavy losses caused by recent floods.

Addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, Dairy Farmers Association leaders said recent floods had severely impacted Karachi’s dairy farmers.

“The rates of almost every item used in the dairy industry have risen by nearly 30%,” they said, warning that if the trend continued, there was a risk of animals starving to death.

The dairy farmers said they were already suffering losses of Rs3 billion per day in connection with the milk supply.

“More than one million animals [cattle and buffalo] are present in different colonies of the city, while the industry supplies 5 million litres of milk to Karachi on a daily basis,” they noted.

In view of the prevailing situation, the farmers said that an immediate increase of Rs50 per litre in milk prices was inevitable.

The farmers threatened to stage a protest outside the Sindh Chief Minister’s House if a notification for a hike in milk prices was not issued by October 1.

Milk is currently being sold at Rs220 per litre across the city.