The Ministry of Agriculture Thursday ordered local agricultural, animal husbandry and veterinary departments to take more effective measures to safeguard the legitimate interests of dairy farmers and to stabilize milk production.

The ministry issued an emergency circular Thursday on the issue, against the backdrop of dairy farmers discarding milk as a result of the recent tainted baby formula scandal over the past few days in such major milk producing regions as Hebei, Inner Mongolia and Shandong.

According to the circular, normal purchases of fresh milk should be ensured, and smaller enterprises should be encouraged to buy more fresh milk and dairy products makers should be prompted to fulfill contracts on fresh milk buying.

Fresh milk test and purchase procedures s...