Kandahar Dairy Plants Process 120,000 Liters Of Milk Daily

KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): A dairy processing factory officials in southern Kandahar province say they collect tens of thousands of liters of milk from livestock farmers every day, but in order to further increase the value of livestock farmers' products, duty on on imported powdered milk should be increased.

Kandahar is one of the provinces where people meet their living needs mainly through agriculture and livestock.

Nik Mohammad, a resident of Manara area of Arghandab district, who takes his cows' milk to a dairy processing factory daily, explained that the milk was the only source of income for his family.

“My family looks forward to the money from this milk. Factories in Kandahar have given value to our milk. The economy of many poor people is based on this milk”.

According to Bakht Mohammad, a resident of the Jiwalahor area, he has two cows at home and takes the milk to a dairy factory daily.

“This milk is purchased from us at a reasonable price. Before these dairy factories, our milk had no value; because there was a lot of it and people would buy it at very low prices in dairy shops”.

“I take milk to daily the center every morning. I maintain cows and meet other household needs. Previously, I took milk to village shops, which bought it at a very low price, but now I am happy that I earn a lot of money from selling milk”: Amena, a resident of Kalachi area of Dand district, said. She takes milk to the factory daily with her eight-year-old son and makes a living from the money she earns.

Hayat Masoom, operations manager of Milko factory, claimed currently they collect 55,000 liters of milk from 6,500 farmers daily against more than 1.5 million afghanis.

“Daily, we collect 55,000 liters of milk, a small part of this milk is also collected from some districts of Helmand, we are trying to increase the amount of milk even more. Currently, our factory has 38 types of dairy products from this milk, products that were previously mostly imported from foreign countries”.

Masoum added that things are not the same now. Earlier, people would buy cows but were unable to see the milk sold. Now, cow milk is very valuable. In fact, many people in Helmand after shunning cultivating opium have bought cows to make a steady profit.

“Some organizations, in coordination with us, have provided cows to poor families, which has yielded very good results. Now these families have a good income from milk”.

Masoom called the import of dried milk a serious problem for farmers, saying dried or powdered milk was still imported into the country in large quantities because its price was lower than fresh milk and many dairy shops used it.

He emphasized that if the imported milk was banned or taxes on it increased, the milk from farmers' cows will become even more valuable.

“Currently, 12,000 liters of milk is obtained from large and small cattle farms in the province every day, most of which is processed in dairy factories, Agriculture and Livestock spokesman Mohammad Hanif Haqmal explained.

According to Haqmal, the operation of the factories has greatly helped the people, as there has been a demand for milk and all the goods that were previously imported from foreign countries are now produced here in good quality.

“There are currently 650 large and small farms in Kandahar, as well as thousands of families who keep one or two cows. These families make a living from the milk of these cows, and factories play a major role in processing this milk”.

Haqmal claimed that a new dairy factory in Kabul has recently requested to receive fresh milk from Kandahar, and work is currently underway to ensure that the milk can be delivered there efficiently.

According to the Agriculture and Livestock Department, two large dairy processing factories, Milko and Maldar, are currently operating in Kandahar, which together process over 90,000 liters of milk per day.

hz/ma

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