Rs. 350m project to boost dairy production

Shirley Wijesinghe

A project for small scale dairy farming improvement through Genetic and Feeding Management Improvement (GFMI) to increase milk production and income of dairy farmers has been drawn up, JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) sources said. An agreement will be signed to this effect soon, they said.

The project was formulated after a survey by Ex-ante Evaluation Team on small scale dairy farming improvement to form a JICA Technical Cooperation Project.

The allocation for the five year project will be Rs. 350 million. The Livestock Development Ministry will make arrangements for domestic expenses and will provide basic logistics of project sites, allocation of required counterpart personnel and animals for semen production.

A series of discussions was held between the Livestock Development Ministry, Animal Production and Health (DOAP&H) Department, National Livestock Development Board (NLDB), dairy farmers in Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Kurunegala and Artificial Insemination Centres.

After concluding surveys, the team proposed a tentative framework of the proposed project and exchanged minutes between JICA and authorities of the Ministry of Livestock Development and the Department of External Resources of the Finance and Planning Ministry. ‘’Everything has been finalised and we are pending on the approval of the agreement to be signed’’, JICA spokesman told the Daily News. According to the agreement, the project aims at increasing milk production and income of dairy farmers by developing breeding and dairy management. The main objectives of the projects are to introduce sustainable progeny testing programme for improvement of quality of dairy herd and adaptation of improved animal feeding and dairy management techniques.