DERA GHAZI KHAN City News

Dairy farmers, retailers increase milk price by Rs10 per litre

From Hasnain Qaisrani

DERA GHAZI KHAN: The dairy farmers and milk retailers operating their business in the city have increased the price of milk to Rs 90 per litre from Rs 80 per liter with immediate effect.

Talking to The News here on Sunday, the retailers said that the dairy farmers were supplying the milk to the wholesalers at Rs 85 per liter on the pretext of low production of milk coupled with the high cost of fodder and other expenses. The retailers feared that the price of milk could further go up as the milk production decreased in the winter. The dairy farmers having their farms in the jurisdiction of the municipal corporation said that the local and multinational companies were collecting milk on the basis of the fat percentage with good demand, which created the milk shortage in the area.

Despite huge numbers of animals, they were unable to meet the increasing demand of the consumers as a large consignment of milk was dispatched to bordering areas of Balochistan, they added.

According to the data obtained from the local dairy farmers and the retailer outlets, minimum 250,000-litre fresh milk is sold daily while the sale of packed and processed milk is also getting excellent response due to the shortage of fresh milk.

It is worth mentioning that a large number of livestock breeders have shifted their business to the city periphery from the rural riverine areas due to better rate in the urban market.