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Tonnes of milk thrown away in Java as farmers protest industry restriction
The protest took place amid the government’s plan to increase milk consumption in the country, including through the flagship free nutritious meal program promised by President Prabowo Subianto during his campaign for the February election.
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A worker milks a cow on Sept. 19, 2024, at the Bintang Tani dairy farm in Bogor regency, West Java. (Antara/Arif Firmansyah)
D
airy farmers in Pasuruan, East Java and Boyolali, Central Java chose to throw away tonnes of milk in a protest over a restriction imposed by the milk processing industry.
Sulistyanto, chairman of the Pasuruan-based Setia Kawan Dairy Farming Cooperative (KPSP), said companies reduced a quota on milk purchases from smallholders since early October until at least mid-November.
He blamed milk processing facilities for not making enough purchases from farmers despite the industry signing an agreement to buy “as much milk as possible” from smallholders.
“As of today, the amount of milk that could not be absorbed [by processing facilities] amounted to a total of 80 tonnes,” Sulistyanto said on Sunday, as reported by Kompas.
The figure represents more than a month of quota restriction, Sulistyanto said. Some milk, which now has nowhere to go, is currently stored in cooling units at storage posts and tanker trucks, he added.
Dairy farmers under the cooperative produce a total of 100 tonnes of milk per day.
Read also: Mega dairy farm for milk self-sufficiency too optimistic: Farmers
