CIC Agri Businesses to support dairy farmers and industry
Dairy farming is still being carried out under
traditional methods:
CIC Agri Businesses with the Presidential Secretariat, the
International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), and the National
Agri Business Development Program (NADep) recently launched a project to
support dairy farmers and the dairy industry.
The project which comes under NADep's 'Enabling Farmers to Become
Agri-Entrepreneurs' initiative will initially support dairy farmers in
the Dambulla, Thambuttegama, Kanthale, Maderigiriya, Siddapura and
Muthuwella areas.
General Manager, Milk Collection and Extension at CIC Agri
Businesses, Nandana Jayasinghe said, "Dairy farming in Sri Lanka is
still being carried out under traditional methods. For instance most of
our dairy farmers will carry out the milking process only once per day
when it can actually be done twice."
"Our farmers also have limited resources when it comes to storing and
transporting the milk they collect. Collection centers are often
situated far away from the farms and by the time the milk gets there the
quality has dropped thereby giving farmers a lower price," he said.
Chief Executive Officer Dairy Products at CIC Agri Businesses, Amal
Perusinghe said, "Sri Lanka has the potential of being self-sufficient
in milk provided that the right support is given to the dairy farming
community." The milk collection points, lactose scan machines and
chilling tanks are being provided by AIPL, a pioneering supplier of
agriculture machinery to Sri Lanka.
Chief Operating Officer, AIPL, Dilranjan Jacob said, "AIPL has a
longstanding history of supporting many industries in Sri Lanka with
state-of-the-art machinery and equipment that allows these industries to
grow and become more productive."
"In the long run it supports the local economy. With this initiative
we join CIC Agri Businesses to support a much-needed industry in the
country. Dairy farming has been carried out for many years under
traditional methods," he said.
The first ceremony to present equipment to dairy farmers in
Polonnaruwa was held on Friday (June 3) at the 'Buddhi Mandapaya'.
President Maithripala Sirisena was also present.
With the main focus of developing the livelihoods of dairy farmers
the project will also enable dairy farmers to increase income levels.
Under the program 42 farmers from the selected areas will be provided
support to set-up proper cattle-sheds while they will also be trained in
areas such as cattle-shed management, calf management, grassland
management, artificial insemination procedures and animal husbandry, and
proper milk collection techniques. Milking machines will also be
provided to farmers who yield more than 20 litres of milk per day.
Thirty six lactose scan machines which reads the quality of milk, 14
milk collecting cabins at village level and several milk chilling
centers in semi-urban areas will be set-up. The project implemented in
the North Central Province is also due to be extended to the rest of the
country in the near future. Phase I is due to be completed within two
years.
|