HARIPUR: Dairy farmers have demanded an increase in milk price citing the escalating inflation as the reason and warned if the demand wasn`t met, they would close down business.

Leaders of the Dairy and Cattle Farmers Association Haripur told Dawn that fresh milk was sold for Rs160 per litre and curd for Rs170 per kg after collection of milk from dairy farmers at the rate of Rs130.

They insisted that the district administration had never notified milk price and made dairy farmers follow its verbal orders.

The association leaders said dairy farmers were struggling to keep cattle due to surging costs.

They said milk cost dairy farmers Rs187 per litre but the district administration was unwilling to recognise it and allow a hike in it.

The association leaders said unaffordable costs had forced many dairy farmers out of business.

The association leaders insisted that the Supreme Court had ordered the district administrations to fix milk rate every six months.

They said on one hand, beef`s rate had gone up from Rs450 per kg last year to Rs650 and no one objected but on the other, poor dairy farmers were jailed and fined for `profiteering.

When contacted, district director (livestock) Dr Sohrab Ahmad Khan confirmed the sale of milk at Rs170 per litre and said dairy farmers were pressing the administration for price hike.

Malik Hasnain of the Halal Food Authority said figures of dairy shops and milk production and consumption in the district were unavailable.

He said a few people supplied milk from Punjab to Haripur and that, too, occasionally. Correspondent