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| Friday, 10 September 2004 |
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by Uditha Kumarasinghe The Agriculture and Livestock Ministry has allocated Rs. 60 million for the import of hybrid cattle varieties with the intention of helping the country's animal husbandry sector reach its expected targets and develop the hybrid cattle population which had been threatened with extinction due to sale hybrid cattle for meat. The Ministry will shortly send two officers to India to select Rs. 60 million worth of hybrid cattle varieties from their farms which suit the climatic condition of Sri Lanka, Agriculture and Livestock Minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake told a media briefing on Tuesday. The Ministry has also formulated an action plan and reserved a sum of Rs. 40 million to develop the Veterinary Research Institute at Peradeniya which is in a state of decline at present. The Ministry will also seek the assistance of Indian experts for this purpose,he said. The hybrid cattle imported during the past few years of the former Government has not facilitated the development of the animal husbandry sector due to various malpractices that occurred when these animals were imported,the Minister said. These hybrid cattle will not be directly handed over to the farmers. Instead they will be bred at the National Livestock Development Board (NLDB) farms to produce a new generation of hybrid cattle to be provided to farmers. The Minister said the sale of hybrid cattle for the meat industry is a major problem faced in the country's animal husbandry sector. A large number of cattle are sold for meat daily exceeding the number of hybrid cattle produced by farms daily. This situation has created a severe dearth of hybrid cattle in Sri Lanka during the past few years. In order to overcome this situation, the Ministry has already taken steps to strengthen the existing laws imposed on slaughtering animals. In addition the Ministry has made arrangements to purchase cattle which are earmarked for sale for meat. The Ministry has already selected two farms of the NLDB for this purpose, he said. The Ministry has also formulated a methodology to conduct "Cattle Fairs" countrywide to purchase cattle. After prior notice,the NLDB officials will come to these fairs to directly purchase cattle which are to be sold for meat. The Ministry has already ordered two vehicles to transport cattle to farms directly from these cattle fairs, he said. "The intention of this programme is to purchase hybrid cattle sent to slaughter houses through the NLDB and maintain them in NLDB farms with a view to provide them to the dairy farmers free of charge. This will help to preserve and develop country's hybrid cattle population," he said. Meanwhile, the Ministry has decided to increase the present Rs. 15 per litre paid for fresh milk by three rupees within one week. This will help the dairy farmers obtain Rs.18 per litre of fresh milk. |
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