Market has never been an issue for most dairy farmers in Haa, Paro, and Thimphu. Besides selling dairy products in nearby towns, they have been supplying milk to a private dairy processing plant in Thimphu. Having a reliable market has helped the farmers to stabilise their income and improve their livelihood.
Every morning, 49-year-old Chencho Gyeltshen from Tsento in Paro collects around 600 litres of milk from the villagers.
He then processes it into cheese, butter, and yoghurt and supplies the surplus milk to a private company in Thimphu.
He earns about Nu 500,000 monthly including expenses.
Similarly, two dairy groups from Dotey and Shaba in Paro supply around 800 litres of milk to the private company.
Farmers said that after they started supplying milk to the company, they did not have to worry about the market or milk getting spoiled.
However, these groups are facing challenges, particularly with storage.
“There is no proper place to store the milk after we collect it from the villagers. We need a chiller and we cannot buy it as it costs a lot. If we cannot instantly deliver the milk, there is a chance of it getting spoiled and we have to return it to the farmers,” said Dop Sangay, a representative of Dairy Group in Dotey.
“We are supplying milk here once every two days in a steel container. There is a chance of getting spoiled due to the heat from the sun,” said Damchey Zam, a representative of Dairy Group in Shaba.
However, the private company is planning to introduce a milk tanker, which will collect milk directly from the source. This is expected to ease transportation challenges faced by the farmers.
“When we receive the tanker, we can go to the source and collect the milk. This will prevent the milk from getting spoiled. There is also an opportunity to acquire more quantities of milk. Currently, if the milk is spoiled, we have to send it back and they incur losses,” said Sanjok Biswa, the co-founder of Serkar Dairy Private Limited.
The company has been giving Nu 60 to 70 per litre of milk to the farmers. Currently, the company receives milk from nine groups from Haa, Paro, and Thimphu.
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