Dairy industry in major expansion drive

By P. Krishnaswamy

Highland Liquid Milk promotional program among the public and schoolchildren

Minister Arumugam Thondaman and officials inspecting the cows imported from Australia.

Secretary to the Ministry of Livestock and Rural Community Development Dr. K.M.T. Kendaragama expressed optimism that the country will achieve its self-sufficiency target of two million litres of milk per day by 2016 with the many favourable features introduced under the past Budget. In an interview with the Sunday Observer, he said that according to medical assessments the local milk, including the liquid milk and milk powder, have higher nutritional value than the imported ones and the government has launched programs to promote consumption of fresh liquid milk among the population. Dairy farmers in the Northern and Eastern provinces have also now joined the process of milk production and the Ministry is importing more chilling tanks to its factories.

Excerpts of the interview:

Q: Do you believe that the many favourable features introduced under the last budget will facilitate achieving self-sufficiency in milk production by 2016?

A: Under the budget, tax has been imposed on imported milk powder. It is a very good inducement for boosting the local dairy industry. The local producers will now be able to compete in the market with the importers. The imported milk products were highly subsidised and the local producers could not compete with them. With the imposition of the tax their prices will now go up.

There will be much better market for the local producers. It will indirectly encourage the consumption of fresh milk among the people and also the other local milk-related products.

My Ministry had already initiated several programs to boost milk production so as to achieve the targeted self-sufficiency by the year 2016. The artificial insemination program, the introduction of the sex semen under that program, the introduction of hybrid cows to the dairy industry, 'the grass for milk program' and promotional programs for consumption of fresh liquid milk amidst the population are some of the programs that have already been launched.

Two years ago we were producing only 20 - 22 percent of our total requirement. According to medical recommendations and nutritional assessments, we have to produce 2 million litres of milk per day. A big step forward to strengthen the dairy farmers that is now being initiated by Minister of Livestock Development and Rural Community Development, Arumugam Thondaman, is handing over of the Chilling Centres to many of the farmer societies of the total 2,200 farmer societies in the country.

We imported 500 high quality cows from Australia and they give more than 10,000 litres of milk per day. Another batch of 1,500 cows are due to arrive in December.

Imported cows being fed.

Milk being distributed in mobile vans

These cows will be kept in the government farms and the calves will be distributed among farmers in an effort to improve the genetic potential of the animals. For the first time we are introducing 'sex semen' under the artificial insemination program. Under the 'sex semen' program only female calves will be produced unlike under the normal insemination process in which both sexes are produced in an almost equal number. We now have the stock of the 'sex semen'.

It will be used in the field within the next two weeks. This will, in due course, greatly help the farmers who find it difficult to maintain the male animals. For the first time in the history of dairy farming, October 30 was introduced as a day for promoting good quality grass among the farmers.

We had a national program in Colombo on October 30 and 10 million good quality cut grass were distributed among the farmers. The theme of the program is 'grass for milk' and this event will be continued every year in the future. Hybrid animals need good quality grass and we have introduced a number of high quality grass which have to be popularised among the farmers.

In the hill country areas, most of the animals belong to the category of good quality animals and they have to be fed with good quality grass. One more advantage of the good quality grass is that it can be grown in a small block of land to feed many animals throughout the year.

Q: Pasture for animals has been reported as the major problem deterring the progress of dairy farming in central hill country areas, especially in the plantation areas. Does your Ministry have any special programs to address this problem?

A: In the plantation areas we are holding discussions with estate managers in order to find out whether there are abandoned lands which can be developed as pasture for animals. If there are such lands which are suitable for development as pasture, we would take them over for the purpose.

Q: What plans are under way to address the problem in the dry zone?

A: There are some complications in the dry zone areas on this matter. Where there are abandoned lands or government lands people try to encroach into them. We are now in the process of negotiating with the government agencies in order to declare them as grazing lands for the animals. The farmers in these areas would be encouraged to collectively develop these lands and safeguard them from any encroachments.

Q: A cow may need as much as 30 litres of water per day. Farmers in some areas have complained that they are unable to provide this amount of clean water to the cows. Your comments?

A: As far as I am aware, providing water to the cows is not a problem in the up-country areas or in the plantation areas. If problems of this nature are reported to us, we will initiate action to provide redress.

Q: After a lapse of nearly three decades, the people of the North and East have joined the national drive for achieving self-sufficiency in milk production. Do you have plans to establish more factories and chilling facilities in those areas?

A: In the post-conflict period, people have the freedom to do what they want to. Many of them who were traditional dairy farmers have returned to their profession.

Batticaloa and Ampara regions have recorded a rapid development in milk production, pushing many other regions behind. Dairy farming has been started in Kilinochchi and other battle-torn areas of the North. The animals have been in the jungles and had to be brought back. Many private companies have already gone to these areas. The MILCO too will be going there in the near future. The farmers have their Livestock Breeders' Associations which play a major role in the milk collection and other such processes.

Q: Are there chilling facilities in commensurate with the milk production throughout the country?

A: Chilling facilities are available and we have not encountered any problems. Because recently we got 16 milk cooling tanks and 15 more are expected soon.

Q: How do you compare the level of liquid milk consumption of the Sri Lankans with people in the neighbouring countries and other Western countries and also the quality of our products?

A: Our people consume about 120 ml per day whereas the per capita consumption in the European countries and in countries like Japan is over 200 ml.

In our neighbouring India the consumption level is higher than ours. About the quality, I have to say that ours is much better than the imported ones because it is fresh. We have to expand our milk processing capacity. MILCO has got four processing factories now - in Digana, Polonnaruwa, Ambewela and Colombo. By January we will start refurbishing them. We will be establishing another processing factory in Siringapatha in the North-Western province. We are negotiating on it. It will have the capacity to process 400,000 litres once completed. Presently the country is processing 500,000 litres per day.

Milco (Pvt) Ltd is working towards catering to the nation's requirement of milk and milk-related products with the lofty objective of producing a healthy future generation and making the country self-sufficient in dairy products, is rising from strength to strength having recorded Rs.1.04 billion sales in the first three quarter of the current year.

There has been a tremendous increase in milk production and the forecast for this year up to end of December is around 70 million litres which is nearly a 25 percent increase as against last year's 55 million litres, Milco Chairman Sunil Wickramasinghe told the Sunday Observer.

The production that was 225,000 litres per day two years ago was increased to 500,000 litres per day at present, he said.

The conflict-ravaged Northern and Eastern provinces have now been encompassed under the milk collecting network of the ' Milco'. Many of the dry zone areas such as Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Ampara and Batticaloa have been recorded as the highest milk producing areas.

Over 2,000 dairy farmers of Mullaitivu, Mallavi, Oddusuddan and Kilinochchi in the Northern province have been enrolled under the milk collecting network of the Milco for giving milk through farmer societies, Wickramasinghe said.

Improving the standard of living of the farmers is also an objective of the Milco and the price offered to the farmers for litre of milk was increased from Rs.32 to Rs.50.

The total 55,000 farmers throughout the country have been immensely benefited by the price increase and, especially dairy farming has contributed to the economic welfare of the plantation community. Milk production among the plantation people considerably increased after increasing the storage facilities and installation of mini coolers, Wickramasinghe said.

A big step forward to strengthen the dairy farmers that is now being initiated by Minister of Livestock Development and Rural Community Development, Arumugam Thondaman, is handing over of the Chilling Centres to many of the farmer societies of the total 2,200 farmer societies in the country.

On achieving self-sufficiency in the year 2016, the country will save a staggering US $ 400 Million per year which could be utilised for further improving the dairy farming sector. Last year's import of 84,000 tonnes of milk products cost the national coffers Rs. 30 billion, the Milco Chairman said. The government has arranged to import 2,500 hybrid freisian cows from Australia as part of the measures to increase the present herd in Sri Lanka and increase milk production.