Dairy farmers on Sunday urged the government to take steps to keep prices of animal feed at a reasonable rate as it has seen a sharp rise in recent months, which would push prices of meat up.
As an alternative option, they also called for a subsidized rate of sales through the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) for the dairy farmers.
Bangladesh Dairy Farmers’ Association (BDFA) made this demand during a press briefing at the National Press Club, where they gave a price comparison between the current price and prices six months and a year ago.
“As the prices of animal feed saw a sharp rise in recent time, the government should take steps to monitor the prices so that the importers cannot make the market unstable” said Mohammad Shah Emran, General Secretary BDFA.
If the prices of animal feeds went up, it will push the prices of meat up at consumer level, Emran argued.
In the recent time, the government has taken steps to keep the prices of onion and potatoes within the reach of common people and it has been able to control unusual rise of prices, he added calling for strong moves for monitoring.
According to the BDFA data, the price of wheat bran reached Tk31 per kilogram, which was Tk27 per kg six months ago and Tk24 per kg a year ago.
Rice bran also increased by Tk12 per kg from last year, now retailing at Tk31 per kg.
The price of Kura (rice dust) more than doubled from last year, which retailed at Tk20 per kg in October, but was Tk12 per kg in April and Tk7 in October last year.
Other demands of the BDFA included putting a ban on meat import, providing free vaccines and medicines to dairy animals, free treatment for them, increasing import duty on bulk field milk by 100% by imposing anti-dumping tax as well as 20 years of income tax rebate, increasing the production of powdered milk in local factories, providing bank loans to farmers on easy terms at low interest without collateral and building a board for the dairy farmers from the government.
“If the prices of animal feed rises, the cost of rearing cows also increases. As a result, prices of cows increase as well as meat,’ said M Imran Hossain, president of BDFA.
In availing meat at lower prices, people especially restaurant and hotel owners’ move for imports, said Imran.
So, for the sake of the industry, the government should take immediate steps to ensure fair price for animal feed and impose ban on import of meat, he added.
Bangladesh was self-sufficient in meat production, a huge amount of dairy meat is imported every month, he said.
In 2017, $4.08 million and in 2018-2019, $20.5 million worth of frozen packed meat was imported. Additionally, 1,885 tons in 2018, and 4,999 tons of meat in 2019 was imported. Till September this year, $11 million worth of frozen packed meat was imported, he mentioned.
Despite the fact that the farm industry is included in agriculture, the industry is severely neglected and damaged due to lack of tax rebate facility on commercial utility bills, the president added.