Dozens of dairy farmers on Saturday threw litres of milk on a road protesting its falling prices amid corona lockdowns.    About 50 dairy farmers staged the protest near Bahadurpur Bazar in Singra Upazila.  They complained that the price of milk has been falling in the village markets due to the continuous lockdowns. Also read: Bidi workers protest against NGOs' tax-hike proposal  They said they don’t even sell the milk Tk. 20 per kg.  The farmers demanded that Milkvita buys milk from them under government management so they get fair price.  Singra Upazila Animal Resources Officer Dr Khurshid Alam said that the price of milk usually drops much on weekend holidays -Friday and Saturday. Also read: Port workers protest against misbehaviour of cops

Pran Dairy has continued collecting milk from its contractual dairy farmers amid the nationwide lockdown – put in place to curb Covid-19. As Covid-19 cases and fatalities have been on an upswing in the country, the dairy processor is creating awareness among the farmers so that they can supply milk to the collection centres, following proper health guidelines.       Maksudur Rahman, assistant general manager (operation) of Pran Dairy, said: "We are collecting milk from our 12,000 contractual farmers regularly." Read Lockdown: Sirajganj dairy farmers in trouble again "Dairy farmers cannot sell milk now as hotels and sweet shops are closed. However, we are collecting all of the milk that the farmers are delivering to our centres." He also said Pran has five hubs in Chatmohar of Pabna, Gurudaspur of Natore, Shahjadpur and Baghabari of Sirajganj and Rangpur; there are 101 collection centres under the hubs. "Recently, we have taken steps to increase the number of our collection centre in the southern region. Also, we have set up some collection centres in Satkhira and also started collecting milk from there. Farmers are supplying milk at the collection and chilling centres, maintaining social distancing and following health guidelines," Maksudur said. Read Coronavirus: PRAN Dairy collects 2 lac liters of milk from farmers Kamruzzaman Kamal, marketing director of Pran-RFL Group, said: "We are being able to provide products to the customers, thanks to the government's decision to keep the supply of agriculture, dairy and other essential products normal." "The demand for milk, generally, increases during Ramadan. So, we have introduced home delivery facilities for milk and dairy products," he said in a media release.  Read PRAN Milk Powder launches ‘Amar Little Star’ campaign

The dairy farmers of Shahjadpur upazila in Sirajganj district have run into trouble again as the ongoing lockdown has choked the sales of milk they produce. Shahjadpur upazila produces some 20.50 lakh litres of milk a day, but now thousands of litres of milk are wasted due to drop in its sales and lack of storage facilities, the farmers alleged.  As the demand for milk in the open market is declining due to the closure of sweetshops, tea stalls and lack of people at haats and bazaars, farmers are counting huge losses. Visiting different areas of the upazila, the UNB correspondent found many of the farmers staging protests by dumping milk on the streets. Many farmers were also seen roaming at local markets to sell off cows as no option is left for them. Also read: Jashore dairy farmers count losses as demand falls According to Sirajganj District Livestock office, a milk-processing factory was set up in 1983 in Sirajganj by Milk Vita, a cooperative state-owned enterprise.  And then the upazila saw the mushrooming of cattle farms within years.

PRAN Dairy Limited has continued to collect milk from its contractual dairy farmers at a time when the farmers are facing difficulties to sell milk due to ongoing general holidays across the country to prevent the spread of coronavirus.