Kathmandu, Oct. 26 -- The milk flush season has begun, but dairy farmers still await payments of over Rs1 billion from the state-owned Dairy Development Corporation (DDC). Much of the dues is from last year.

"When I joined the DDC in mid-September, the dues stood at Rs860 million. We paid Rs300 million in September and are releasing around Rs50 million today [Sunday]," said DDC General Manager Sanjeev Jha.

Nepal has two distinct milk production seasons-flush and lean. The flush season, from August to February, leads to oversupply, while production drops sharply during the lean months. The ratio between lean and flush production is roughly 1:3.

"From now on, our plan is to pay at least Rs300 million monthly, as there is strong pressure ...